Maybe I'm Amazed
by hisbrainisonfire
Summary: After House has 'Moved On' what happens to Cuddy and Wilson? Will they find in each other something they needed all along?
1. Because I'm Broken

**A.N.: Understand that at the core of my heart I am forever a Huddy. I believe that House and Cuddy are soul mates, and that they belong together. BUT TPTB has decided to ruin absolutely everything with that GOD AWFUL finale, and our lovely Lisa Edelstein has decided to bow out (who can blame her?). So in light of all these events I am giving into a guilty pleasure of mine that the season finale has left open for me. A part of me has always thought that in a world without House, Cuddy could be everything that Wilson needs and vice verse. Come along with this little experiment with me if you wish, and we will see if I can actually do this. I have no idea how long it will be. I don't have much of an outline worked out. I like to think that House is going to eventually come into the picture again, I am just not sure how it will happen yet. I am obviously not as good at getting House out of criminal charges as the writers are.**

**Oh and if you haven't noticed, this fic is going to contain season 7 spoilers. This is your fair warning. I don't want to hear any whining.**

**Now on with the show.**

**Almost forgot! I don't own House. If I did maybe it wouldn't suck so much right now!**

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><p>This had to be one of the longest days of Lisa Cuddy's life. What time had it been when it had all started? Three? Four? She couldn't quite remember. They had been having coffee, that much she remembered. Julia's husband had made an incredibly dry joke about his sex life with Lisa's sister. She had laughed out of courtesy, but inwardly cringed at the new found mental image he had given her. Thanks so much for that one. At that point she figured it was a good idea to move everyone into the family room. She could always clean up the mess in dining room later. Little did she know how big of a mess she would have to clean up.<p>

It had been such a blur. The sound of breaking glass and cracking wood nearly deafening. She had turned around so fast she nearly stumbled, not that she would have even noticed or cared much if she had. A car was now parked where her dining room table used to stand. A car was parked where she had just been sitting with her sister, her sister's husband, and her date. She watched as House climbed out and slammed his door shut. Her eyes were wide with horror as he made his way over to her and without saying a single word handed over her hair brush before making way nonchalantly out of her home.

The entire party that was standing in her living room seemed to be momentarily stunned into silence. None of it felt real. Ages seemed to slip by her before she felt a small hand give her shoulder a squeeze. When Lisa turned she found herself face to face with Julia. Her sister was watching her with concerned eyes, "Lisa.. We need to call the cops. He is going to get away." That statement confused Lisa a little. Get away? It took a few moments, but her brain finally pieced it all together. She was going to have to turn House into the police. She would have to file charges. He had finally pushed too far. There would be no protecting him. Not this time.

How much had she let slip by when it came to House through out the years? Losing Vogler's money because House could not play by the rules. Perjuring herself because of his addictive habit. Countless sleepless nights as he layed unconscious as a patient in her hospital for numerous reasons. Every demeaning and disrespectful comment that ever left his mouth. Every single rule or guideline broken to support his every whim and fancy. She had been strong and stood by him through it all, because he was a good doctor. Because he was a friend, but above both of those things it was because she loved him. She saw the beautiful potential that was Greg House. She saw his wit and his brilliance. She saw his well masked compassion, and his filter-less sense of humor. She knew that in the end no matter what he said, a part of him cared about her too. So she put up with it all.

Ending it with him had killed a part of her. Looking back she knew that she had pushed him pretty hard. She was well aware that he thought she had overreacted to him switching the blood for the politician, but he just couldn't see that even his smallest deceitful act scared her. If he had just fessed up after the fact she could have dealt with it, but he continued to lie until he knew he had been caught. Then he refused to say he was sorry. Even when he could have been dying he refused to give her the apology she needed. It was all about him, never about her. Her birthday couldn't even be a time when he thought about her. All she wanted was for him to come to dinner, but no. He tried to wiggle out of it. Had she not manipulated him with Wilson's help he would not have even shown up. His determination to save her mother, all about him. He was afraid that if her mother died, she would leave him. He refused to admit that he wanted to spare her the heartache, no it had to be a selfish reason. She had accepted that. In her heart she believed that there was a much deeper meaning, but of course he would never own up to it. Then later when he seemed to be ignoring every little thing that she asked him to do for her comfort, he only righted his ways after she told him that she was done with him. Then it was time for her awards banquet. She had wanted him to be there for her so bad. Just to be present for something that meant the world to her even if he thought it was pointless. He had went out of his way to hire a band to play for her, but then couldn't even bring himself to show up. He was too caught up in his depression and his worries. Even though in the end he chose her, it was too late. He had already hurt her. A declaration that should have meant so much to her fell on upon a wounded heart that night. The last straw, of course, was when she thought she might be dying. It took him forever to come to her bedside, but she held out hope that he would. Deep down in her heart she had faith in him. She waited it out as patiently as possible. When he did finally show up, though, he had been stoned. He refused to experience her pain and her worry at her side. He numbed himself and left her to deal with it alone. This was not a man who wanted a life with her. This was a man who wanted to take everything she had, and was only willing to give her a part of him. It wasn't enough. She couldn't live like that. She had told herself that in time he would open up to her. She had said she didn't want him to change, and she had meant it. The bad part was that even though she said it, to her him opening up would not be a change. It was just something natural. She had been wrong, and she saw it all too late. Opening up, for House, was a change. One he was not willing to make. In the end, while they had given it a good shot, it had fallen short. She hated that failure, and she wished it had been different. Would she take back the months that they had spent together? No. They had had good times, and she had the ability to look back on those experiences and truly appreciate them. She thought that in time House would be able to too. After the hookers, the booze, the pills, and the mail order bride, she hoped that he would be able to forgive her and they would move on. She had been so sure that their conversation at the hospital had solved that. When he admitted his pain and told her it wasn't her fault. By the looks of her dining room, though it was obvious she was wrong.

"Lisa." Another squeeze on her shoulder finally pulled her out of her thoughts. She nodded a bit to show her sister that she had caught her attention fully this time, "The cops. Yeah. Call them." Her gaze then fell on her 'date' who was slinking towards the door. He had felt her eyes on him and looked back to her, "Um... I've got a meeting.. I should probably go.." He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. Lisa figured that once the ex drives a car through a wall the date is probably done for anyway. She forced a smile on her face for him, "Go on ahead. I have a bit of a mess to clean up myself. You might be contacted for a statement, though. Sorry about that." He simply nodded, gave a little wave, and headed out the same door that House had exited through. It was a little ironic to have to watch one two relationships walk out of the door. One that had never gotten the chance to be anything at all, and the other that had been just too much to handle.

Time passed on by as ambulances and cops showed up in front of her house. She couldn't bear to be inside, so instead she sat down on the steps out by the sidewalk. Wilson had been there the entire time. They had yet to get up the nerve to talk to one another, but he never left. His eyes had been on her the entire time she gave her statement. She could feel them, but she hadn't worked up the nerve to deal with them yet. The control freak part of her was working in overdrive now that the shock had died down. She needed to pick up Rachel from Marina's. Even though she had called to let the nanny know that she would be late, this was pushing it. It was now almost nine at night. She also needed to get some things for both her and Rachel to wear as well as to book a hotel. There was no way that she they would be staying in the house. Even though the firemen were working on boarding up the hole, she just couldn't imagine trying to stay in there.

"These are the papers you requested." The cop she had given her statement to held out the restraining order paperwork. Wow. Did they keep this kind of stuff in their squad cars? Apparently they didn't play around when it came to domestic abuse. The term almost made her laugh. Almost. That was what they were labeling the 'incident' as. Domestic abuse. House had tried to harm her. She just couldn't wrap her mind around it. She had always been waiting for something to happen when it came to him. He was a loose canon, but she had always thought whatever would happen, he would do it to himself. She never thought it would involve her. Now all it was going to take was her signature in a few places on a few documents and he would never be allowed within fifty feet of her hospital, her, or her daughter. Rachel.

That was another thing she couldn't wrap her mind around. It had taken her so long to emotionally trust House with her child, but she had never questioned her safety with him physically. What if she had been playing under the table at the time? He had no way of knowing she wasn't there when he plowed through the wall. Had he lost his mind? How much had he been aware of while driving that car?

She just stared at the papers for a bit. This was a huge decision. She had tried to sound so strong and sure when she asked for them, but now that she was actually having to face them she knew this would be the hardest thing she would ever do.

She heard the cop clear his throat. He was probably annoyed that after she had tried to move him along she herself was taking forever. With a deep breath she began to sign in all of the indicated spots. Tears fell without any guard down her cheeks. She hated looking so weak in such a public manner, but what else could she do? She was signing away a person who had been in her life for over twenty years. She had always assumed that he would always be a part of her life. Funny how it had all ended with such a bang. How very House.

Lisa handed the papers over to the cop, but she refused to look him in the eyes. She didn't want to see the pity that she was sure she would find there. He seemed to understand and merely stated that he would be sure to take care of the issue and that he would keep her updated on anything they found in regards to House's whereabouts.

She needed to get up off the steps. She had things to do. She needed to get a move on, but all she seemed able to do was silently cry. Had he finally broken her? No. That thought was what finally got her stand up and wipe away her tears. She refused to let Gregory House win. They had been fighting for as long as she could remember. She had won a few. He had won more than she would ever admit. This was just another battle between them. The last battle. She would not be letting him win by sitting on the ground and crying. She would mourn the death of her longtime friendship, but not now. Not in public. It would be on her terms in her own time.

"Cuddy." The familiar voice broke through her inner battle cry. She knew that when she turned to the left she would come face to face with her James Wilson. She prepared herself to go on the defensive. She was so sure he would defend House, but she wouldn't have any of it. She forced a smile on her face for the third time today. The first had been for her date, the second when she assured her sister that it was ok for her to leave with her husband to pick up her kids, and this one was for the ever well meaning Wilson.

"Quite a party, huh?" She was attempting to sound light hearted when she let her gaze rest on his injured wrist. Her fake smile gave way to concern, "How is your wrist and how did you hurt it?" She had been wanting to ask him that since she saw him holding it, but neither one of them had been up for the conversation yet.

He shook his head and took a few steps to bridge the gap between them. Without any warning he was pulling her into a hug that she definitely was not expecting, "I didn't know what he was going to do. You have to know that." He told her earnestly.

Had he really thought even for a second that she blamed him? She was stunned to say the least. She quickly wrapped her arms around him and let out a sigh, "Wilson, I would never think you helped plan this. Hell, I never even thought for a second that it was planned. Don't worry about it."

He quickly broke the hug so that he could hold her at arms length and look at her like she was absolutely insane, "Don't worry about it? How am I not supposed to worry! My best friend just drove his car into my other best friend's dining room, nearly running me over in the process! Now there is a hole in your wall, and God knows where House is! I just.. I..."

It was clear to her that Wilson was heading into one of his freak outs. She knew she needed to put a stop to it fast.

Lisa raised her hands up and placed one on either side of his face, "Look at me." She paused to make sure that she had his attention before continuing, "None of this will be fixed over night. Take a deep breath and just calm down. I'm not sure how it ever will be ok, but I know that eventually it will. We have been through a lot over the years. This is just another bump in the road."

He stared at her in utter shock for a moment before responding, "I can't believe that you are the one consoling me. I was so sure when I came over here that I would be consoling you."

The first genuine smile of the night crossed her face when he said that, "We can take turns. I just happened to grab the first shift." She let her hands fall from his face and sighed giving another look at her house, "I have so much to do though. I need to get some clothes and things together, go get Rachel, get a hotel." She shook her head and looked back at him. Even such simple tasks seemed so daunting.

Wilson shook his head right back at her, "You act as if I am going to let you stay at a hotel. I have a spare room, you need a room. You are going to be staying with me, and I don't want to hear any protests on the matter." He gave her his best stern look and pointed his finger at her to emphasize his point, just daring her to fight him on it.

Lisa bit down on her bottom lip and shoved her hands in her pockets, "Wilson, I just signed a restraining order against House. If he shows up at your place while I am there..."

She was cut off by Wilson putting his arm around her and drawing her into his side, "If that happens we will cross that bridge when we get to it." He gave her shoulder a squeeze and started guiding her towards the house, "Come on. Lets get your stuff then go get Rachel."

Lisa knew that it was pointless to try and fight him, and if she was to be honest she didn't even want to. Having her friend by her side was the best she had felt from the moment the car had driven through her dining room. She didn't really need the help, but it sure as hell didn't hurt to have it.


	2. Leave the Pieces

**A.N.: Another day, another chapter. Don't get too used to this whole daily chapter thing. My muse just happens to be behaving really well.**

**Again, I do not own House. If I did House wouldn't have lost his damn mind.**

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><p>Trying to maneuver their way into the house was tricky to say the least. Fire fighters were still roaming in and out of it. Lisa felt like they were always in someone's way. Eventually she just gave up on her mumbled apologies. They weren't even listening anyway. She even heard Wilson give a few sighs of frustration. If they could just make it past the family room they would be golden. There was no reason for anyone else to be in her or Rachel's rooms. The car never made it that far, thank God.<p>

"We are home free now!" Wilson shot her a playful smile when they made it to the hallway that would lead them to her room. She gave him a small smile in return, "Yes we are. There is a suitcase in Rachel's closet. If you could throw some clothes and a few toys into it, that would be such a help. I will put all toothbrush and things with mine." She was making a mental checklist of everything they would need, and she knew if she told him every single thing she thought they needed he would probably laugh at her. The list was in no way short, but men never seemed to understand everything that women really did need. It would be much easier for her to just pack all the things that he would probably view as nonessential. She was sure he could handle picking out clothes for a little girl. Her wardrobe was far from complicated after all.

Wilson nodded a little, but was searching her eyes with his own, "Are you sure you are going to be alright by yourself?" Lisa fought back the automatic want to snap on him for assuming she needed a chaperone to do something as simple as pack a bag. She knew he meant well.

She drew in a deep breath and gave him a carefully calculated response, "I don't need a babysitter, Wilson. I'm fine. Just help with the packing please."

He could tell he was being dismissed, and he was sure as hell not going to fight her on it, "Of course I will help I was just..." She quickly cut him off.

"You were being a concerned friend." She finished for him offering up a smile that would tell him she was not mad, "I know, and I fully appreciate your concern and all that you are willing to do to help me. I just need to get moving. I need to get away from here, and I need to get my daughter." The events of the day had left her craving a hug from her little girl. The emotions that washed over her when Rachel wrapped her small arms around her was something that she never took for granted. Rachel was her miracle and her blessing.

"Of course. I understand. I'm sorry." He told her as he made his way down the hall to Rachel's bedroom. He was acting so awkward. Wilson seemed to be walking on eggshells around her. It would probably get annoying later, but for now she was sort of amused.

She chuckled a little and moved into her own room. With him working on getting Rachel's things together she could fully focus on her things. She grabbed her garment bag out of the closet. It would be easiest to start on her clothes for work. She worked on choosing at least five different outfits. She had no idea how long it would take to fix the hole. She didn't even know a contractor that worked on private homes. She knew a few that had worked on the hospital, but she was fairly sure that they only worked on large scale projects. She had to shake her head a little to get her thoughts back on track. She could worry about all of that tomorrow. Right now she had to focus on getting all of her things together. Her grey suit with a red top. Black skirt with pink scoop neck shirt. Slowly she picked out specific outfits making sure to no choose something she had worn too recently. She had never been a fan of repeating outfits too close together. As she narrowed down the choices her hand landed on her red top with the black belt and loose fitting black skirt. It was the outfit she had worn when she had asked House to help her with the IVF injections. The memory jumped out at her with such strength that she was sure she could feel him behind her. She hadn't worn the outfit in ages, mostly because she knew that if she did he would be quick to remind her that he had been allowed access to her ass. Now that he was gone she was free to wear it as she pleased. Almost defiantly, she shoved the outfit into the garment bag along with the other suits and zipped it up. It was a small step towards putting Gregory House behind her. A step that no one but her would ever even notice, but it was a step none the less.

Next to the garment bag she set out her suitcase. It didn't take long to fill it with underwear, casual clothes, shoes, laptop, chargers, and sleepwear. Next she put in her make up bag and her jewelry box. Choosing just a few accessories would be nearly impossible for her, so she didn't even try. She liked choices. The next step was to move into the bathroom to gather toiletries for herself and Rachel. She was impressed with herself. She was making pretty good time on her packing, but her progress was brought to a swift halt once she stepped inside the bathroom. Sitting on the edge of her sink was the hairbrush.

She had never before been so struck by a simple object, but that hairbrush was different. It was a symbol. To her it was a symbol. She had left that hairbrush at his place as an experiment. She wanted to see how many things he would allow her leave before he would start to complain that she was invading his space. It had started with the hairbrush then it moved on to lotion, a sweater, a coffee cup, and a DVD. Had they not broken up the list would have probably been longer, but in any case the hairbrush had been the beginning. When she asked for it back, he had no way of knowing that she was asking for the end of her presence in his apartment. It meant too much to her, she knew. She had put too much store in it, but it was what it was. She had no way of knowing that the object she had asked for would be delivered in such a manner. She closed her eyes to block out the visual, but all it got her was a mental replay of the look on House's face when he handed her the brush. He had been so calm. So void of emotion. She could probably live for a thousand years and never for a moment would she understand how he was able to do what he did. How he could live with himself after nearly destroying her. The car had been going so fast. If they would have been still sitting at that table, there was no way he could have slammed on the breaks to stop. How could he have chanced it? She couldn't imagine coming so close to hurting him that way. There was still too much love for him. Correction. There had been too much love for him. With every action he took since their break up, that love was slowly dying in intensity. She could feel it, and it broke her heart. She was certain that she would always love him in one way or another, but the more he did the less she wanted to be near him the way she used to. In the past she had made excuses to be near him. Lately, she had done her very best to steer clear from him. It was for his own good as much as it had been for hers. She was so sure that given space and time they would both be ok. She had been wrong. All she could do now was keep moving forward. He would have to face the consequences of his actions, and she would not be there for him anymore. It was a cold, harsh reality, but it was one that he had created for himself. She hoped it was worth it for him.

Lisa had been so caught up in her own thoughts, she hadn't even heard Wilson come in. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what had her standing there with her eyes closed, blocking everything out the way she so obviously was. He placed a gentle hand on her arm and whispered, "Cuddy..."

She jumped a little not having anticipated his presence and looked directly at him. His eyes were concerned and sincere. She had always appreciated how easy he was to read. He was open and kind. James Wilson was an amazing person and friend to say the least. She watched as he turned towards the sink and picked up the hairbrush. She wasn't really sure where he was going with that until he simply tossed it into the waste basket next to the toilet. It had been so easy for him. It should have been something she did for herself, but she had made that hairbrush more than it really was. A smile spread across her lips. She had made so much out of nothing. She tended to do that a lot when it came to anything involving House. Wilson was looking back at her with a smile to reflect her own, "So, almost done here?" He wasn't going to push her. He knew that she would talk to him in time when and if she needed to. Trying to pry it out of her now would be pointless, and she would only push him away. Dealing with Cuddy, in his opinion, was like dealing with a kinder, prettier, less destructive House.

Lisa nodded, "Yeah. I just have to grab a few things from out of here, and I will be done." She quickly scooped up the things she needed and moved into the bedroom to toss them in to her suitcase. She closed it up and took a look around to make sure she hadn't forgotten something. When she did she caught sight of Rachel's little suitcase and a rather large duck that Wilson brought in. She laughed heartily and looked over at him, "Did you really feel like it was a necessity to bring Lily? It is the biggest toy she owns."

"I just want her to feel at home. She has had that duck since she was a baby." He scratched the back of his neck trying hard to look innocent, "She named it Lily?"

"She did. I have no idea what the story is behind that, but you can ask her if you like." She pulled suitcase down onto the floor, pulled up the handle so it could be rolled outside, and draped the garment bag over her arm, "Ready to go?"

"Sure, but let me get all that for you."

She shot him a warning look, "Wilson. I've got it." That was all it took for him to back off and grab Rachel's things.

Ten minutes and a fight about whether or not Lisa would go by herself to get Rachel later, they were pulling up to Marina's house in Wilson's car. It had been decided that he would drive her to get her car tomorrow morning before work after all the men had cleared out from her house.

Lisa eagerly rushed up and knocked on the familiar door. Marina opened up and immediately attacked her with questions, "Dr. Cuddy! I saw the news! Are you alright! They didn't say any names, but I recognized your house! Wasn't that Dr. House's car? Was he arrested? Was anyone hurt!"

"Marina, take a breath." She put a hand on either shoulder of the woman, "I'm fine. No one was seriously injured." She had almost said that no one at all was injured, but a mental image of Wilson holding his wrist caused her to correct herself, "That was in fact Dr. House's car. No he was not arrested, not yet anyway. They don't know where he went."

Marina shook her head, "I can't believe he did that to you. You were always so kind to him. You don't deserve this."

Lisa took a deep breath and drew her arms back to her side, "Thank you for saying that. Where's Rachel?" She didn't mean to sound cold, but she was tired of this conversation. She just wanted to take a shower and go to sleep.

"Oh she is watching cartoons in the living room. That little one simply refused to go to sleep until you came to get her." She turned around and yelled out, "Rachel! Your mother is here for you!"

The sound of tiny feet against hardwood floor brought a big smile to Lisa Cuddy's face. She knew her daughter was excited that she had finally come for her, "Mommy!" Rachel yelled out as she jumped up to throw herself into her mother's arms.

Lisa caught the little girl with practiced arms and planted a kiss on her cheek, "Hey baby. I missed you." She closed her eyes tight and let herself melt in her daughter's embrace. This was what she needed. This was all she really needed.

Rachel returned the kiss on her mother's cheek and started rattling off excitedly, "I missed you too, mommy! We went to the park! I fed a duck! What took you so long?"

"Did you really? I had a busy day, baby and it sounds like you did too." She opened her eyes and took the bag that Marina was holding out to her, "Thank you Marina. Would it be alright if I dropped her off here to you tomorrow morning?"

"Of course. Whatever you need, Dr. Cuddy. Goodbye Rachel!" She said to the girl as the Cuddy women began to retreat towards the car.

"Bye Marina!" Rachel called out before her mother moved her into the backseat of Wilson's car. The driver of the vehicle and the fact that this was not her mother's car did not go unnoticed by the little girl, "Wilson? Why are you here?"

Wilson looked back at the curious girl, "Rachel, I am being a special driver for your mommy so she doesn't have to. We are going to have a sleepover at my house. Does that sound like fun?"

Rachel immediately beamed at him, "I love sleepovers! Is there going to be popcorn?" She felt that popcorn was a staple for a sleepover.

"I can see if I have some if your mommy says it is ok." Wilson said while glancing at Cuddy who was buckling her seat belt next to him.

"We will see Rachel. It is already well past your bedtime." There was no way Lisa was going to commit to popcorn. She knew good and well that her daughter would not forget the promise if she did in fact make it now.

"I am not even a little tired mommy! I promise!."

Wilson was trying very hard not to laugh at the persistent little girl, while Lisa simply shook her head, "I said we will see Rachel."

Rachel decided not to push her luck and simply huffed and crossed her arms settling for watching the scenery pass outside the car.

Getting everyone inside of Wilson's loft and settled was a lot easier than Lisa would have predicted. Rachel was too excited to be somewhere new to question why they had to stay there.

"Kitty!" She exclaimed excitedly when she spotted Wilson's diabetic cat sprawled out on the living room floor.

"That is Sarah, Rachel. Sarah this is Rachel." He grinned and bent down by Sarah to pet her belly, "You have to be gentle with her. She is very old, but she is also very nice."

Rachel squatted down by Wilson and nodded quickly, "I will be very very gentle. I will not hurt the nice kitty." She promised.

Lisa, who had been putting their things away in the guest bedroom found herself smiling at the sight of her friend, daughter, and the overweight cat, "I see you made a friend, Rach."

Rachel nodded yet again, "I did, mommy! This is Sarah. She is a nice kitty."

Wilson stood up and walked over to his friend, "Do you need anything?"

"All I think I really need right now is a bath and a good night's sleep." She stated.

Wilson patted her shoulder, "I agree. You are welcome to anything. Just let me know if I can help in anyway." He said before he turned back to the child, "Goodnight Rachel. I hope you sleep well."

Rachel hopped up and ran to Wilson. She threw her arms around his leg, "Goodnight Wilson! Thank you for letting us sleep over!" She remembered Wilson well from different occasions, but she had always thought that he was nice and funny.

Wilson reached down and placed his hand on top of her head shooting her one of his best smiles, "No thank you for coming to stay with me! Now I won't be lonely." He looked up at Cuddy and gave her that same smile, "Goodnight Cuddy."

"Goodnight, Wilson." She said softly.

As Wilson made his way to his room, Lisa scooped her daughter up, "Come on. You can watch tv while I take a shower then we are going to bed."

Rachel sighed dramatically, "So we aren't having any popcorn are we?"

Lisa chuckled a little, "Not tonight, baby. Maybe tomorrow. You never can tell what will happen tomorrow."


	3. Lean on Me

**A.N.: Twice in one day? This is me on a roll!**

**Again, no ownership. Unfortunately Shore and crew have their grubby paws all over the characters.**

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><p>Lisa was quickly realizing that sleep would not come easy to her. Rachel, however, had fallen asleep fast. Waiting up for her mother had clearly worn the little one out. Lisa contented herself with just watching her daughter sleep for a while. She envied the child in a way. She knew nothing of pain yet past the pain she felt when she scraped her knee or bumped into the corner of a table. No one had broken her heart yet, and she had a mother who stood ready to fight off anyone who dared to try and break her heart. Rachel's teenage years were going to prove to be interesting, she could feel it already. Boys would come calling, and she would gladly take up the role that normally a father would fill. She would be sure the young man was worthy while at the same time trying to support her daughter's decisions. It would be a tight line to walk, but she would do her absolute best. No one could ask more of her than that. She loved Rachel, and in the end that would have to be enough. It had to bed. She still felt guilty at times that she couldn't give the girl more, but that was just a part of her nature.<p>

A glance at the clock on the nightstand told her that it was two o'clock in the morning. She was no closer to sleep than when she had laid down next to Rachel at eleven. Maybe some tea would help calm her down.

She moved out of the bed and made her way down the hall to the kitchen. She was wearing her purple plaid pajama shorts and a purple tank top, making sure that if she happened to run into Wilson while still in her pajamas that she wouldn't embarrass herself by showing too much skin.

It didn't take her long to rummage through his cabinets and get tea brewing on the stove. For a man, Wilson was incredibly organized and his kitchen was extremely well stocked. Many people had speculated over whether or not he was gay throughout the years, but anyone who had seen him with Amber or Sam would know that he was as straight as they come. He just had a big heart. His ability to love was limitless. His infidelity with his wives was something she had never really understood, but she had never pushed to know his secrets. Everyone made mistakes, she assumed that his cheating had been just another mistake he had made.

When the kettle began to whistle she quickly pulled it off the stove and prayed that she hadn't woken any of the other occupants of the flat up. The sound of a door opening told her she wasn't that lucky, and she inwardly cursed herself for not being quicker when she pulled it off.

To her surprise it was not Rachel who came to meet her. It was Wilson. She had thought that with his room being furthest from the kitchen that it wouldn't have been him to hear all the noise she made. She set the kettle back down on the stove and bit down on her bottom lip looking very ashamed of herself, "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to wake you. I couldn't sleep and tea sometimes helps."

He quickly waved off her apologies, "I wasn't sleeping. If I had been there was no way I would have heard the kettle. I guess we are both fighting a case of insomnia tonight." He told her as he moved over to the cabinet and pulled out two cups, "Do you normally have trouble sleeping?" He was curious about her habits at home. He had always counted her as one of his best friends, but outside of work he had to admit that he didn't know her all that well at all.

Lisa poured tea into both of the cups and shook her head in answer to his question, "No. I usually sleep really well. I am normally so exhausted I just fall right to sleep but today... Well today was special."

He picked up his cup and leaned his back against the counter, "You know Cuddy you can talk to me. We haven't really discussed this whole mess."

She quirked a brow at him and leaned back against the counter across from him, "Do you really think that talking this out will help my insomnia? If anything it will probably only make it worse."

"That's not true. You need to work this out. If you leave it bottled up you will explode. If you don't talk to me at least talk to someone else. A professional maybe."

She scoffed at that, "You really think I am going to talk to a shrink? I'm not crazy. I am not the one who drove a car into someone's house. I am not at fault!"

"And yet you are probably the one blaming yourself for what he did." He told her with a knowing look.

"Stop trying to psychoanalyze me. It won't work."

"Then tell me where I am wrong." He set down his cup and crossed his arms across his chest, "Tell me that you are not guilt ridden over this entire mess."

"Why are you pushing me?"

"Because I think it is what you need. I gave you a few hours. I would have given you longer if I hadn't come out here to find that you couldn't sleep. You have a bad habit of trying to fight all your battles all on your own. You don't have to do that. You aren't alone. I'm here."

"Then where the hell where you two months ago!" She could feel herself snapping. The pressure he was putting on her becoming too much, but she couldn't stop it, "You stood by him. I always knew you would. You blamed me just as much as I blamed myself. You watched him break down, and you knew that I was the cause. You watched him terrorize me, and only when you thought it was something that he needed did you come to me and ask me to stand up for myself. It was always about him. It always will be. If you knew where he was right now you would be at his side, not mine. You would be worried about him. Hell, in the back of your mind you are probably still worried about him. So, don't be so surprised when I don't open up to you about this. I appreciate your help. I care about you, but you can't be there for me on this. You can not be the shoulder I cry on. I can stand on my own just like I always do. You don't have to be a crutch for me. I might be like House in a lot of ways, but I don't need a savior."

He was stunned. He had never thought that his loyalty to House would affect her like it had, "Cuddy talking about this to me is not me trying to be your savior, and I didn't blame you. I wanted to. It would have been easy if I could just say that it was all your fault and eventually he would be ok again, but it was his fault. He let himself fall into that downward spiral. Your break up may have been the catalyst, but he has been going down this road for a very long time. He has pushed too far this time. Am I worried about him? Yes, but in your heart you know that you are too. He is probably face down in a gutter right now. He could be dead from an overdose. There is really no way to tell, and that is frightening. He is my best friend, but so are you. Please don't act like I don't care about you just because I was there for him through this mess. I had to be. Who else would be there for him? He has nothing and no one. He did that to himself. You have Rachel, Julia, and Katherine, but you also have me. If you haven't noticed I am here with you now, not out there searching for him. What he did was inexcusable, and when he is finally back he will be facing the consequences from both of us. Not just you."

Lisa listened silently as he explained not only his loyalty to House, but also his loyalty to her. She had been wrong to question him, "I'm sorry." She whispered feeling the stress and emotions of the day building tears up in her eyes again, "I do feel guilty. I know I shouldn't, but I hurt him. I caused him to do this, but I also don't understand who he could have done it. How he could have had absolutely no regard for my safety or the safety of my family. Rachel could have been playing on the floor! He didn't know! He didn't care. And I signed those papers. He won't be able to work at the hospital again. He won't be allowed anywhere near me. I hate it, but I had to do it. I had to finally push him so far away that he won't ever to be able to come back. I've lost him forever, and there is no turning back. I can't turn back." She felt the tears falling down her face as she confessed her every feeling to her friend, "I thought he would always be there, if only as my employee, but it is all gone. Over twenty years of history thrown down the drain without a care for the consequences. It breaks my heart!" She was sobbing now, and even though there was more to say she couldn't find the strength to say it.

Wilson watched his friend fall apart in front of his eyes. He couldn't believe this was what it all came down to. For so long he thought that having House and Cuddy together was the only logical thing to happen, but now that it was all said and done he saw that it couldn't have been further from the truth. House was threatening to be Cuddy's destruction, and he was not going to allow it. House had gone too far, and for once Cuddy needed him far more than House did. Or at least Cuddy deserved him more than House did. It was round about time Cuddy got what she deserved.

So in one swift movement he gathered his friend up in his arms. She needed for a moment to feel safe. He could give her that, but of course Cuddy being who she was she tried to pull away muttering apologies and feeling embarrassed by her show of weakness, "Cuddy three years ago you took me in your arms and I cried like a baby. You have never thought less of me. You were there when I needed you most. Let me be here for you. You are not weak. You are human. You aren't alone. I'm here." His words were spoken in hushed tones as he leaned his head down on top of hers. It took her only moments to go from fighting the embrace to wrapping her arms around him welcoming the comfort he was all too willing to give to her. She couldn't move past this alone, and he was not going to let her try. They would find their way through the mess together. She knew that she would forever be grateful for his presence, and he knew that there was no where else he would rather be than standing there with his sobbing friend helping her mend her broken heart.


	4. Sweet Home Alabama

**A.N.: Enter in my first o.c.. Hell it weill probably be my only o.c.. Miss Katherine May Crochet is a mesh of a lot of things. It is my personal belief, along with a very special friend of mine, that Cuddy was always very much in need of a friend all her own. This is where Katherine comes in. She is dedicated with love to my very special friend. You know who you are. Snob fangirls for life!**

**I don't own, yada yada yada.**

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><p>It was another hour before Wilson and Cuddy finally headed back to their bedrooms. She had needed the release of those tears more than she was willing to admit. Unfortunately, though, that release was no replacement for the sleep she had needed. When she woke at five thirty thanks to the sound of the alarm, she was far from being ready to face the world. Still, she knew better than to give into her fatigue. She had a hospital to run and a contractor to choose. She forced herself to go through her morning yoga routine in Wilson's living room knowing that she needed to start her day off in the best way she possibly could. It was an abbreviated routine, but it was most definitely better than nothing. After her yoga she set about the job of starting the coffee to brew and turned on the tv to catch the early morning news. She was fully aware that Rachel would likely be waking soon so she also made it her mission to fish through the cabinets for something for her daughter to eat. She had forgotten to ask Wilson the night before what his usual early morning routine was. Hopefully she and Rachel would not get in the way too much.<p>

From the coffee table she heard the strains of Lynyrd Skynard's Sweet Home Alabama and she cringed. She had completely forgotten to call Katherine after everything had died down, and the only reason her friend would be calling at such an ungodly hour would be because she had somehow found out about the incident.

Katherine May Crochet was her long time friend and constant pain in the ass, in the best of ways of course. She hailed from Montgomery, Alabama and had absolutely no qualms about speaking exactly what was on her mind at any given time. She had met Katherine her last year at Michigan, Katherine's first year. They bonded over a love of martinis, good looking men, and Bruce Springsteen. To this day it is only Katherine, Cuddy, and House himself who know all of Cuddy's history with House. From their one night stand, to her guilt over the infarction, and now, apparently, his car being driven into her dining room. Lisa loved her friend, but this was not at all the way she had wanted to start her morning off. She didn't have a choice though. There would be hell to pay later if she tried to avoid the call. It was better just face the consequences now. If she was lucky at all she would be able to stop her friend from hauling her ass to Princeton to start her very own search party for House simply to find him and kick his ass from here to kingdom come.

Taking a deep breath she braced herself for the onslaught, "Hello."

"Don't you fucking 'hello' me, Lisa Cuddy. Act all calm and serene, but I know the truth! Now are you going to explain to me why I had to get a call from Arlene Cuddy telling me that that stupid ass mother fucker drove his car into your house instead of a call from you? Explain yourself woman!" Katherine always had been straight to the point.

"Mom called you?" This confused Lisa. Why had her mother deemed it necessary to call in cavalry?

"'Course she called me! I'm your best friend! I should get to know when someone tries to kill you. Your mom is smart enough to know that. You, I am beginning to have doubts about. Are you sure you didn't sleep yourself to the top?" She wasn't serious, of course, but she figured she was getting the point across that she was pissed off being left in the dark the way she had been.

"Oh calm down, Katherine. I was going to tell you, but I was a little busy trying to figure out what I was going to do. It wasn't a slight against you." She settled herself down on the couch and crossed her legs in an attempt to get more comfortable, "So if you found out last night how did you keep yourself from calling me then?"

"I was being a fucking thoughtful person, Cuddy. You know what a great friend I am, but I have waited long enough. Explain yourself this instant."

"What is there to explain? I was having coffee with Julia, Ben, and Julia's bank friend, we move into the living room, and next thing I know House is parking his car in my dining room. He got out, handed me my hairbrush, and he left."

"Oh he brought the experimental hairbrush back. What a way to end it all." Katherine said in a knowing tone.

"I really need to stop telling you things."

"Bullshit you love me. Now where the hell are you now? I am assuming that you are not staying at the house."

"Of course not. James offered to let Rachel and I stay at his place."

"Oh hold up now! Cuddy are you absolutely insane? You can't stay with a guy. Specifically you can't stay with that guy. He is going to try and fix all your little problems, and by fix your problems I obviously mean stick his penis inside you."

That actually caused Lisa to cough on the coffee she had began sipping leisurely on, "Are you completely mental? Wilson is NOT going to try and sleep with me. We are friends. I know the concept is foreign to you, but you can in fact have friends of the opposite sex."

"You're right. It sounds to me like you are speakin a completely foreign language, but that doesn't make me wrong. He had tried to go after you before, but that blonde woman got to him before he could move to fast with you. You had better keep your eyes peeled when it comes to this one. He likes to seem all nice and good, but the minute you put your guard down he is goin to be pullin your panties down. Mark my words."

Lisa shook her head, "You are so full of it."

"Whatever, I am right. Now tell me, until the whole car in the house thing how was your date with creeper boy."

"He was not a creeper."

"Ha! Yes he was. He comes out of nowhere and just knows who you are. He was looking at those pictures way too hard, but thats not the point. How was the date?"

"It was not a date! It was just coffee!" Lisa insisted, "It was ok I guess. I won't ever be seeing him again, but it was ok."

"Well you can do much better than the creeper and the psychotic gimp anyway."

A rustling from the kitchen caught Lisa's attention and she flashed a smile and mouthed good morning to a very sleep deprived looking James Wilson, "Look Katherine I need to get Rachel up and ready. I have to go."

"We are not done yet by a long shot, but I will let you go. I am driving in to Princeton. Have your lunch available for me."

"What if I don't have time?"

"Make time, bitch."

Lisa rolled her eyes even though she knew Katherine couldn't see, "Fine. See you then."

"Give Rachel a kiss for me. Bye."

"Bye." She hung up the phone and moved into the kitchen, "I hope I didn't wake you up."

Wilson shook his head, "No my alarm clock did. You aren't the only one that has work today, you know."

She smiled and nodded, "Yeah I guess neither one of us can avoid it. I'm going to go get myself and Rachel ready. We should be ready to go in about an hour. Is that good for you."

"Yeah that's fine."


	5. The Main Event

**A.N.: Another day another chapter. DON'T GET TOO SPOILED =D**

**I don't own House. If I did Wilson wouldn't have a hurt wrist, and Cuddy's House wouldn't have a hole in it. But hey that's just me.**

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><p>The production of getting Rachel ready to leave was a lot more complicated than Lisa would have liked thanks to the child's obsession with Sarah and her need to question Wilson about every single thing he would be doing that day. She was thankful that Rachel was so comfortable with him, though. If she was lucky being around him might stop the little girl from wondering when her pirate friend would be coming back around. Looking back on it now, she still couldn't make herself feel like it would have been a better idea to keep House away from the girl. For them to make a real try at a relationship it was a necessity to see how he would do with her. He didn't disappoint. He had given it a real try, and if she was to be honest she would say that she was impressed. The downside was that now Rachel missed House. She asked for him frequently. All Lisa could do was explain that he was busy, and he would probably not be able to come around like he used to. If House had asked to see her as just a friend, she would have jumped at the chance. It would have been good for Rachel, but those days were long gone. Even if House managed to stay out of jail he would still never be allowed to come anywhere near her or her daughter. It was the right thing to do.<p>

Yeah she just had to keep telling herself that. Maybe if she thought it often enough she would begin to actually believe it.

A trip to Marina's to drop Rachel off and a trip to her house to pick up her car completed her pre-work errands. First thing to tackle when she made it to the hospital was a meeting with a donor. That ate up about an hour of her time then she had paperwork for the budget for the pediatric department. That was something that had to get done immediately. Was she avoiding talking to House's team? No! Of course not! She was a grown woman with an important job to do. She didn't avoid something so simple. Except that she knew it was not going to be simple. Walking through the lobby that morning let her know that she was definitely the talk of the entire hospital once again. Somehow it had her missing the days when they used to talk about her sleeping with House. Those conversations never left people looking at her with pity. They never looked her up and down to see if she had been hurt. Sure they would look at her crazy, and if they looked her up and down it was usually to see if she was walking with any sort of a limp (most rumors about them having sex had the fact that House was well hung and that was why she put up with him. Such rumors she was sure were started by the gimp doctor himself). She could deal with all of those things, but the pity stares she was getting now was unacceptable. So, a meeting with House's team was not actually something she was looking forward to. She was so tired of talking about the incident. She wasn't ready to deal with the fact that House would never be returning, but as she knew all too well, you can't always get what you want.

At ten thirty a knock at her door signaled the presence of House's four fellows. They filed in and lined up in front of her desk. Foreman was the first to speak up.

"When were you planning to confront us? We deserve to know what happens now."

Lisa set her pen down and looked up at the stoic doctor, "My day does not revolve around the diagnostic department. I was going to come and see you on my time, not yours, but since you seem to think you are more important than the funding for the pediatric department, by all means talk away. I have all the time in the world for your troubles." She kicked back in her chair and gave him a look that told him she was waiting for him to continue.

Thirteen spoke up this time, "We just want to know if we need to be looking for new jobs, that's all. Is House going to come back?"

"Of course he's not coming back." Chase threw in, "The question here is, will there be a diagnostic department without him."

"He won't be back." Lisa confirmed, "As for the department.. We've tried to keep it alive without him before. I don't think it would be wise to try it again."

"Dr. Cuddy, please." Foreman stepped up, "This time could be different. You trusted me once."

This made Lisa laugh, "Yeah and you drove off your fellows."

Taub made his presence known, "If House isn't coming back, I won't be staying."

Lisa nodded, "I appreciate your honesty. If you would like to join our surgery department you are more than welcome."

"What so you are jumping ship again?" Foreman asked with a shake of his head.

Taub shrugged his shoulders, "We've been through this before. Even if she says yes, I'm not staying. I joined up to work under House. Not you."

"What about me? I could run the department." Chase stated, "I've worked for House almost as long as Foreman.

"I could work for Chase." Thirteen agreed.

"Oh so now you want to work for him. Are you sleeping with him too?" Foreman accused.

"ENOUGH!" Lisa shouted to get everyone's attention, "I am closing the department and that is final. I have loved that department for a lot of years. It was my baby, but when I opened it it was with House in mind. It was the perfect environment for him, and I know you all learned a lot from him. But I am done. I am done with the department. It eats up a ton of money even if it brings in a lot of money as well, and without House it won't even be bringing in the same kind of money anymore. I am sorry. You are all excellent doctors, and if you want to stay on in my hospital I will find a place for you. But I am done. As of this afternoon the office will be closed down. If you have any things in there please go and retrieve them. Anything left will be sorted to see if it is hospital property or House's property. Anything that we think is House's will be boxed up in order to be sent to him. All other things will be distributed to be used in other departments." Her voice was exhausted, and they could even see it written on her face. She wasn't joking. This was the end of Princeton Plainsboro's diagnostic department.

Thirteen raised her hand, "I heard you needed help in the Emergency room."

Lisa breathed a sigh of relief and nodded, "Yes, thank you. I can draw up the papers by the end of the day."

Taub was next, "I actually would like to see if I can join up with a practice again."

Chase jumped in, "I will take his position in surgery!"

Lisa was grinning, "Sounds fine with me. Good luck Dr. Taub. Any practice would be lucky to have you."

She was about to address Foreman who was simply standing there staring dangerously at her, but the sound of someone fighting with her assistant caught her attention.

Within the next minute a 5'6" leggy blond pushed her way into the office. Her hair fell loose and straight around her shoulders that were bare to the world thanks to the sleeveless black dress she was wearing. The woman was grinning like mad and waved at Lisa, "I think I might have given your new assistant a coronary. Sorry about that, but she wasn't gunna let me in. Didn't I tell you to keep lunch open for me?" Her brown eyes scanned the group of doctors in front of her, "Huh. I guess she was right. I am interruptin something. Oh well." She moved forward and extended her hand first to Chase with a smile, "Katherine Crochet, neo-natal surgeon and long time friend of Dr. Hot pants there." She gestured to Lisa to be sure he knew she was talking about her.

Chase, who had finally closed his dropped jaw, flashed her his winning smile, "Dr. Robert Chase. Former diagnostic fellow, soon to be general surgeon attending."

"Oh! These were House's people! Fun!" Katherine let her gaze fall on each fellow before she focused it solely back on Chase and shook his hand, "Well it sounds to me like you and I have a good bit in common." She was blatantly flirting with the man, and he was eating up every minute of it.

Thirteen rolled her eyes and looked to Lisa, "Dr. Cuddy I will be by tomorrow to fill out the papers for the E.R.." When Lisa nodded in agreement, Thirteen took her leave with Taub following closely behind after giving a departing wave to the doctors.

Foreman, who was not quite done with or without the interruption from the southern fried surgeon, spoke up, "Dr. Cuddy I do not agree with what you are doing. The diagnostic department deserves to be around even with your personal problems. That is not a fair reason to tear it apart.

Lisa raised an eyebrow at him, "Are you accusing me of making this decision because of my personal life and not because it is what is good for MY hospital?"

Katherine looped her arm through Chase's and pulled him back out of the way, "Come along little Aussie. He is pissin her off. Should be fun to watch." She whispered.

Chase was more than willing to be dragged around by the attractive woman and stood with her to watch the scene with an amused smile.

Foreman nodded, "I am sorry, but that is how I see it. If you had never started a sexual relationship with your employee you never would have broken up and he never would have lost it and destroyed your house."

Her mouth dropped at his accusation and she stood up to meet him face to face, "If I remember right you were in full support of that relationship, and I refuse to take the blame for his psychotic actions. How dare you try to blame me!"

"I am not blaming you for him losing his mind. Not completely anyway, he was headed down that path anyway. What I am blaming you for is not being willing to hold open the department you designed for your ex because it holds too many bad memories."

Lisa squared her shoulders and licked her lips before she spoke, "You have been my employee for years. You are an excellent doctor, but if I remember correctly you couldn't handle running this department last time, why the hell would I trust you with it now? You are smart, but you are not House. That man was a genius. I built that department around that genius. You just don't compare. Now I suggest you shut your mouth before I rescind my offer of finding you another place in this hospital, and while you ponder that suggestion I hope you remember that, much like your former boss, no other hospital will lay a hand on you."

Foreman quickly bit his tongue, but it was obvious he was not happy about it, "Ok. If you have a place for me in neurology I will take it."

"Thank you Dr. Foreman. I think that is a wise decision. I will leave the papers with my assistant. Come back at your leisure to fill them out."

Foreman nodded before retreating out of the office.

Katherine began laughing and moved forward towards the desk dragging Chase with her, "That was HILARIOUS! I think you made him piss his pants. I need to come watch you administrate more often!"

Lisa shook her head, "I can't believe you barged in here like that, and let my surgeon go!" She said gesturing to Chase, "He is too young for you."

Chase, however, had something to say about that, "Not that much younger, and I'm ok if she wants to keep holding on."

Katherine grinned like the Cheshire cat at that, "See, he is fine with it."

Lisa rolled her eyes, "Let him go, and we can go get some lunch."

Katherine sighed dramatically, "Can't he come along? He is so pretty."

Chase blushed a little at that, "You are rather attractive yourself."

"I know." Katherine responded, "Here." She let him go and moved over to Lisa's desk stealing a piece of paper and a pen, "This is my number." She handed him the piece of paper, "Use it."

Chase took the paper and stuffed it in the pocket of his lab coat, "I will be sure to do just that." He said before walking out of the office.

Lisa sighed and grabbed her purse from out of her desk, "I can't believe you just did that."

"Oh come off it Cuddy! He is at most five years younger than me, and did you see the man? He is delicious. I bet I could make him purr like a kitten."

Lisa grabbed her friend's arm and pulled her out of the office, "I am done with this discussion. Lets go find something to eat."


	6. Straight Up

**A.N.: I obviously have too much time on my hands, but hey who am I to complain? They will be dragging my ass back to work tomorrow. I should savor the time I have now. Right? Right.**

**No ownership! Except Katherine. She is mine. THEY CAN'T HAVE HER! They would probably just drive whoever plays her to quit too.**

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><p>"We could have just eaten in the cafeteria." Lisa complained, glancing around the little cafe that Katherine had dragged her to.<p>

Katherine merely rolled her eyes, "As if I am going to eat whatever crap they sell in there when I can drag your ass out to have something good here." She placed her napkin in her lap and opened up her menu, "Besides, I doubt you want to talk about everything with all of your employees sitting around strainin their ears to see if you drop some juicy gossip their way."

Lisa opened her menu as well and shook her head, "I am so done talking about the entire situation. Can't we just drop it?"

"Hell no! I told you we weren't done talkin by a long shot, and I meant it. This is huge, and we need to talk about it. You are closing the Diagnostic department. You LOVE the diagnostic department. It helped make your hospital the tops. People come from all over for that. This can't have been an easy decision for you. You pride yourself in having the best. You pride yourself in being the best. Without him..."

"Without him we will still be the best!" Lisa snapped, "I will..." She stopped herself and quickly re-worded, "The hospital will be just fine without him. Most people would argue we will be better off. He caused chaos with no regards for the rules. I put up with it because he saved lives, but you know what? I've got hoards of doctors who save lives every day. They do their job by the book, and still people live on. It doesn't take a man willing to break into homes to save lives. He was a pampered prick. I let him get away with too much. I will tell you the same thing I told Foreman, I am done. I can't do it anymore. Even if I was willing to take a chance on Foreman the department wouldn't mean as much to donors without House's name. I would be starting from the ground up yet again, and I am not willing to do that. I can move the funds that went to that department to other places. We will be ok." She shifted in her chair and moved her eyes back down to her menu, "Besides, even if he were to come back he can't work at the hospital. I filed a restraining order against him. He can't come back."

Katherine's mouth fell open in shock, "You did? Oh Cuddy.. This is good. Great really. I just assumed if he came slinkin back you would just let him back with open arms, but he FINALLY pushed too far! Good for you! I am so proud."

Lisa shot her a look, "Don't do that. Don't be excited about the restraining orders. This is nothing to celebrate."

Katherine sighed, "Aren't you mad?"

Lisa nodded, "I am, but mostly I am disappointed and hurt. I don't understand how he could have done it. I could have never done that to him."

Katherine scoffed, "Because you aren't insane."

"Its not just that. They called what he did domestic abuse. I'm not sure I agree. Crime of passion? Maybe, but I don't understand that either. I can't understand how he could have done that if he loved me. I loved him. Not just romantically. He was my friend. He meant so much more to me than just an employee. I knew he always would. I wanted him to be happy. I wanted to see him have a good life, even if it wasn't a life with me. I felt like absolute shit for hurting. I never wanted to do that to him, but for once I had to put myself first. I am sure he still doesn't understand that.I think his little stunt was enough to prove that to me. We never had a real discussion about the break up. He didn't get why I did what I did. Now we have nothing. He can't be anything to me. I have to think about Rachel, and I have to think about myself. When it comes to him I spent way too much time not putting myself and my daughter first. I'm still worried about him. I am going to miss him, but I can't let him be around me. Its not safe. I hate it. I hate this whole situation. I don't know what is going to happen when they find him. It kills me to think that I might have to testify against him, but that is just the way it is." She took a deep breath and looked back down at her menu.

Katherine simply shook her head, "Are you done making your speech about your undying guilt and love for Gregory House?"

Lisa glared at her friend, "I do not have undying love and guilt for him."

"Yes you do. In one way or another you will always love him, and you even feel guilty for hurting him so much that he drove a car through your house when he saw you with another man. The thing is, that you can not hold yourself responsible for his pain. He will always be in pain, but that is not your fault either. You helped him live twice. When you did the surgery for the muscle in his leg you saved him from himself. The way he wanted to go about it he would have died. And when you took a chance on dating him you gave him the opportunity to have a real life complete with a woman who adored him and the world's cutest kid. You can not blame yourself because he couldn't live up to being your partner. You were not asking too much to want him to be by your side when things got bad. What kind of relationship would you have had if he went to hide in a pill bottle every time things got rough? Maybe if it was just you on your own you could have worked through that with him, but that is no way to raise your child. You don't have to apologize for choosing her over him. She needs you more. Contrary to popular belief he is in fact a man, not a child even if he does act in many ways that would negate that fact."

Lisa was about to talk, but the presence of the waiter caused her and Katherine to have to put in their order before she could do so. She folded her hands in her lap and waited for the waiter to walk away before she spoke, "I will always love him. Letting him go is killing me, but I have to." She admitted.

Katherine held out her hand across the table and waited for Lisa to take it, "That's normal. It will get better. You are doing the right thing."

Lisa gave her friend's hand a tight squeeze, "I needed to hear that."

"Always happy to help." She drew her hand back and crossed her legs, "This whole mess has got me thinkin bout my life though."

Lisa raised an eyebrow at that, "Really? How so?"

"I want to take you up on your offer to come and work for you. I need to be here."

Lisa shook her head, "Katherine, I have been trying to get you to work for PPTH for YEARS. You do not need to come here now just because you think you need to take care of me. I am not falling apart."

Katherine rolled her eyes, "Stop being so melodramatic. This isn't just about you. I am tired of jumping from hospital to hospital. If I come here not only will I have a steady job, but I get the added bonus of being around you and Rachel. I've been considering it for a while, but your bone head ex boyfriend just happened to make me spring into action. I am going to look at apartments this afternoon. If you will have me, I want the job."

"Of course I will have you! It will be a nice way to soften the blow of the loss of House to the board. It is trading up. I lose my diagnostician, but I gain a famous board certified neo-natal surgeon. It doesn't get much better than that!"

"Don't forget that you gain the constant presence of your best friend." Katherine said before flashing a grin of thanks to the waiter who had delivered their food, "I am going to be honest though, I will be trying to fuck that Dr. Chase fellow. I wasn't joking."

Lisa sighed, "I knew you weren't joking, but I wish you wouldn't. He has been having such a hard time since his divorce."

"Well I wouldn't be going after him if he couldn't handle it when things were hard." Katherine retorted with a devious smirk.

"Your humor is absolutely repulsive."

"You love it and you love me. Now shut the fuck up and eat your club sandwich like a good little girl."

The lunch went on in the same way a constant flow of comebacks and innuendos. After the bill was paid Katherine returned to the hospital with Lisa trying to convince her to let her take Rachel for the night.

"You won't even notice that she is gone!" Katherine insisted.

"What kind of mother are you implying I am? Of course I will notice if my daughter is gone!"

"Ok, you will notice, but it isn't a big deal. I just want to have her for the night. She can stay with me at the hotel. She can pretend she is Eloise. We will have tons of fun."

Lisa shook her head, "It is bad enough I had to disrupt her routine by staying with Wilson. I am not sure this is a good idea. I don't want to throw her off too much."

Katherine rolled her eyes and threw herself down on the couch, "You are too damn over protective. It is just one night. You are not goin to rock her world by lettin her spend time with her Aunt Katherine. The kid fuckin loves me."

"With a mouth like that it is no wonder why I don't let you take her."

Katherine shot her a glare, "You know I never talk like that in front of the kid. Just let me take her!"

Their back and forth was disrupted by a knock on the door.

Wilson stepped in and looked towards Lisa behind her desk, "Hey, I have a file that needs your signature." When he stepped all the way into the office he saw Katherine on the couch, "Oh I should have known you would come. How are you Katherine?"

"I am TRYIN to take Rachel tonight, but super mom won't let her come out to play. Tell her it is a good idea Wilson." Katherine insisted.

"Well.. I'm sure Cuddy has her reasons. We should probably just try to respect..." He was cut off quickly by Katherine.

"OH MY GOD! Shut up and let your balls drop Wilson. That bullshit isn't goin to get you into her pants. Act like a man, not a door mat."

Lisa stepped up and took the chart from Wilson shooting a glare over at Katherine, "He is not a doormat, he is a gentleman. I know you aren't used to being around one, but he is. Quit being so rude."

"Your not my mother, and I'm not wrong. He wants you, and since he does he should support me trying to take the little one off your hands for the night so he can try and cop a feel while she is gone."

Wilson put his hands up in surrender, "Hey I.. I... Cuddy is a friend.. I don't think of her like that."

"Listen to that nervous stutter. Doesn't it just make you wet, Lisa?" Katherine was grinning from ear to ear thoroughly enjoying making Wilson nervous.

"Alright! You can take her tonight if you will just shut up about Wilson." Lisa signed off on the chart and handed it back to the blushing man standing in front of her, "Sorry about that."

"Its fine. Katherine has always loved embarrassing me." He smiled at Lisa before quickly escaping from the office.

"Excellent! That was fun." She stood up and started to head out too, "Let Marina know I am goin to get her please." Before she let the door close behind her she stopped to make her final statement, "Oh and he really does want you. Again, be careful."


	7. Spark to the Flame

**A.N.: What was that? You say you want Cuddy/Wilson fluff? OH WAIT NO THAT WAS JUST ME! Oh well, you get to read it anyway.**

**Cuddy and Wilson are unfortunately owned by a man who does not appreciate his own brilliant characters, so I borrowed them and am trying to give them a better life.**

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><p>The rest of Lisa's day went about as smoothly as she could possibly expect. She did her best to stay within the comfort of her office, hiding from the prying eyes of her gossip hungry employees. She wondered how long it would take for the news of her ex loveremployee driving his car into her house to become old news. She hoped that it would be at least within the month. The only good thing that could come out of Katherine's vow to bed Chase would be that the pair would more than likely become far bigger news than this. She would soon be joining up in the surgery department, and it would quickly become like a bad episode of Grey's Anatomy. Katherine had never shown any interest in keeping her affairs quiet. Lisa would have to keep an eye on that. The last thing she needed was for her employees to think it was on to have sex in the janitors closet. It was bad enough when Cameron and Chase had thought it was alright. Katherine would be worse. At least when Cameron and Chase had been caught they had stopped. If someone were to catch Katherine she would likely not only keep going, but would also extend the invitation to join to the intruder. Maybe Chase would have a bit more sense than her oversexed friend. One could only hope. She would have to make it a point to warn the poor guy. Cameron had already hurt him once. Katherine, she knew, would never go out of her way to hurt him, but the chance of her wanting more than sex from him was slim to none. He should know that before he got too caught up.

It was five thirty when she decided to pack it in and head back to Wilson's place. He had brought her a copy of his key near the middle of the day on the off chance that she wanted to leave before he was ready. She had thanked him, and she was now thanking him mentally again. Even though this was fairly early for her she was utterly exhausted. Stress on top of little to no sleep had finally gotten to her, but when she left out of her office she found herself heading for the elevators instead of the parking lot. She was operating under her autopilot setting. She wanted to go home. She needed to go home, but she couldn't make herself do it. Instead she walked out onto the fourth floor and steered herself on the path she knew all too well. The path that took her directly to Dr. Gregory House's office, but when she looked in all she saw was the shell of what that office used to be. Through the glass walls she could clearly see the absence of the life that office used to have. Furniture had been draped over and possessions and been boxed and ready for sorting. The door that led to the office next to the conference room no longer had his name. It was nothing more than a clear plate of glass. It took everything in her not to cry. She knew that this was going to happen. She had put in the order that she knew would make it happen, but to actually face it was so much harder than she would have realized. She was facing the end of an era. Years of work and dedication gone. She would never come by the office to find him lounging in his chair again tossing his over sized red and grey ball in the air again. Thinking of that ball made her push open the glass door. She knew it had to be inside of the boxes in the small office. She started to sort through them and smiled victoriously when she found it in the third box she opened. She held the ball in between her too hands and closed her eyes with a content smile playing on her lips, "Goodbye House. I've still got your balls, and you aren't getting them back." With that she left the office, her heels clicking against the tile floor. She felt an odd sense of closure. Slowly yet surely she was letting go of the infamous man that had stolen her heart so completely many years ago. Baby steps.

Back at Wilson's she stored her stolen item away in her suitcase and changed into a pair of jeans and a clingy light blue v neck t-shirt. She had no idea when Wilson would be back, but she figured he wouldn't object too much if she went ahead and started supper.

A look through his refrigerator told her he had all the makings of chicken parmesan, so that was what she settled on. It was her mother's recipe, and she was sure if Arlene Cuddy was here she would inform Wilson that her rendition of the dish was adequate though not quite to par with her own. Lucky for everyone she was not. Lisa loved her mother, but she was far from pleasant dinner company.

An hour and a half later Wilson finally made it through his front door and was greeted with the smell of food waiting for him. He smiled at the sight of Cuddy setting the table, "You didn't have to do that." He told her while he draped his coat over the back of the couch and set his breif case down.

"Nonsense. You are letting me stay with you. It is the least I can do." Lisa responded.

"Well it smells great."

"Thanks. Do you want to change or are you ready to dig in now?" She asked, moving into the kitchen to start bringing the wine over to set down on the table.

"No lets eat now. I'm starving." He told her as he pulled his chair out to sit down.

"Great! Now I went out and got this wine while the food was cooking. I hope you don't mind it. I couldn't remember if you like red wine or not." She told him.

"Red wine is perfect, but Cuddy you really don't have to do all of this." He told her anxiously as she not only served him but poured his wine as well.

Lisa rolled her eyes, "Calm down Wilson. You are always so anxious to help others, but you freak out the moment someone is doing something for you. I want to do this. It isn't some big scheme or ploy. This is your friend serving you dinner. It isn't a big deal."

"But I should be doing this for you."

"I don't need someone to take care of me. I just need my friend. You have done that for me. That is more than enough." She sat down in front of her own plate then gestured to his, "Now lets eat before it all gets cold."

From that point on they ate companionably making jokes and exchanging stories from their day. When it was over they cleaned up together before retreating to the couch to find something decent to watch on cable.

Wilson had control of the remote, but Lisa stole it quickly from him. He protested the action, "Hey!"

Lisa rolled her eyes, "I saw you trying to stop on the food network. I just cooked. I don't want to watch other people cook."

"My house, my tv! It was the cake competition show!" He stated playfully reaching across her and tried to wrestle the remote free from her grasp.

"Cake show! You are such a woman! You are not getting this remote!" She wriggled in his arms stretching the remote out to the side and out of his reach.

"Its a good show! Give it up midget!"

Lisa laughed hardily, "Midget! That is not nice, James! What happened to sweet soft spoken boy wonder oncologist? When did you get so mean!"

"The minute you stole my remote!" Now he was mercilessly tickling her sides.

"No!" She protested laughing uncontrollably and trying to push his hands away with her free hand, "Oh my God! Fine! Uncle!"

"HA! I win!" He declared holding his palm open in front of him waiting for her to deposit the remote into it.

She put the remote in his hand but stayed laying back on the couch draping her legs over his lap, "You may have gotten the remote, but you have also just become my foot rest."

Wilson shrugged and settled himself comfortably back against the couch cushion, "It is a small price to pay to win control back over my tv."

Lisa watched him with a smile on her face for a few minutes before speaking again, "Thank you."

This made him give her a curious look, "What are you thanking me for?"

"For doing all that. Playing with me instead of just giving in to me stealing the remote.I don't need you to do everything for me or to let me take whatever from you. Its not who I am. I prefer this. This is nice. You are a good friend."

Wilson smiled at her and rubbed his hand over her calf that was laying on his lap, "Don't thank me for that. I know better than to treat you with kid gloves. I just had to... get past my shock and realize that you are going to be just fine with or without my help. You are too strong to go down without a fight."

That statement brought a blush to her cheeks, "If it means anything to you I prefer to do this with you. I'd rather be here with you than alone in a hotel room with Rachel. I could do it, but it would be lonely. I'm tired of being lonely."

He nodded in agreement, "Yeah... So am I. This is better."

Lisa studied him for a moment before getting up the courage to ask him, "Do you miss him?"

He didn't need to ask who she was talking about, "I'm worried about him, but if there is anything I've learned through all these years is that he will come around in his own time. I miss the man he was before he went down this spiral. He hasn't been the same. I've spent more time worried about him than having fun with him. I hate that."

She nodded a bit, "I know what you mean."

"Do you miss him?"

"I will always miss him." She responded quickly, "But it is getting easier. Just a little bit at a time. I'm worried about him too, but somehow I know that he will be showing up again. Maybe not next week or even next month, but Greg House is not that easy to get rid of. He will be back."

He had to grin, "Yeah I would have to agree with that."

"I called a contractor today. He is going to start tomorrow." She stated as a simple fact.

"You don't seem too happy about it."

"I'm not sure if I want to move back in. I love my house, but after everything it just feels like a huge piece of history that I would rather forget."

"So sell it."

Lisa rolled her eyes, "Just like that? You make it sound so simple."

"Cuddy fix it up, sell it, and find a new place. Don't live somewhere you aren't comfortable."

"That could take forever."

He smiled at her, "Well good thing you have a good friend who is more than willing to let you and your daughter stay for as long as you both need."

She returned his smile softly, "Thank you, Wilson."

"Anytime, Cuddy."

She let a quiet pause fall over them before she spoke up, "Tell me a secret." She demanded with a mischevious grin.

He rolled his eyes, "What?"

She prodded him with her foot and said it again, "Tell me a secret. Come on. We are chatting. This is fun. Tell me a secret."

"Why don't you tell ME a secret?"

"Because I asked first." When he gave her his I'M NOT BUYING IT look she circled back around, "Fine, but if I tell you a secret you have to tell me one."

"Deal."

"I got married when I was twenty four. I met a guy at a party my friend was throwing. He was tall with dark hair and amazing eyes. He was going to Harvard Law and I had just started at Harvard Med. We both got way too drunk, and I woke up the next morning naked aside from the wedding ring on my finger. Technically it lasted less than twenty four hours, but we had to stay legally married for six months before we could be granted a divorce."

"I would ask you if you regret it, but I am assuming you do."

She laughed a little at that, "Its like waking up after a drunken night to find that you got a tattoo. It is far from your proudest moment, but you deal with the consequences. At least with my mistake it is not permanently embedded in my life."

Wilson nodded, "Yeah I can understand that."

"Alright your turn! Tell me your secret." She urged on prodding him in the stomach again with her foot.

He rolled his eyes and grabbed hold of her foot, "The first time I met House I was in jail."

Lisa shook her head, "No no, House told me that secret. Tell me a different one."

"He told you?"

"We were dating for almost a year. You seriously think I never asked how you two became friends?"

He sighed and shook his head, "I guess I should have seen that coming." He paused for a moment to think up something else to tell her, "I haven't even considered dating anyone since Sam left me."

This made her furrow her brow in confusion, "But the barista?"

"I never went out with her. House knew, but I guess he didn't tell you that part. I backed out. I wasn't ready, and he got so caught up in his own stuff that he forgot about the time limit he put on me."

She shook her head, "He shouldn't have pushed you at all. You have to be ready. Only you can know when you are."

"Are you?" He asked curiously.

"I'm trying to be, but me trying to be also got a car driven into my house, so what do I know?"

Wilson rubbed her calf soothingly again, "Hey, you had every right to have that date. He has been sleeping with hookers and got married months ago. You had the right to move on."

"I know, but still.." She shook her head and closed her eyes, "I just haven't felt like trying again. It is so much effort just to find out that you aren't compatible with someone."

"Were you compatible with Lucas?"

This made her open her eyes to look at him, "What makes you ask that?"

"Curiosity. You agreed to married him then left him for House. I always wondered what went on with the two of you."

"Lucas was a good guy. He was nice. He was good with Rachel, but we didn't have a... spark, as lame as that sounds. House and I had an inferno. I needed to see if we could have it all. The domestic life and the inferno. We couldn't. I don't regret letting Lucas go. He deserved someone who was just as in love with him as he was. That wasn't me."

"Do you think you will find another spark?"

She nodded a little, "I hope so. It would suck if I couldn't."

Wilson searched her eyes for a moment before telling her, "I think you will."

The intensity of his stare stirred something inside her. It was familiar. All too familiar. So familiar that it scared her. Wilson was her friend. Jeopardizing that with her familiar feeling would be a mistake. She needed to get up now before she screwed up everything. She sat up and pulled herself off the couch, "I should probably take a shower and get to bed early. I'm exhausted." She explained with a nervous smile.

He cleared his throat and nodded, "Yeah. Me too. Have a good night."

"You too." She told him before walking out of the room and barricading herself in her bedroom.


	8. Footloose

**A.N.: The more I hear about the things David Shore says the more I want to find him and shake him till he comes to his senses. QUIT DIGGING YOURSELF INTO A HOLE DAVID!**

**All I own is Katherine. The rest belong to the people making all the money.**

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><p>Lisa decided it was best not to dwell on the brief feelings she got from Wilson's stare. For all she knew she had imagined it. It was not worth getting awkward over. They had had a good time talking the night before. She wasn't going to let anything taint that. She was finally starting to feel normal again. She was pretty sure she had talked the entire issue to death. Now all that was left to do was move forward. She would get her house fixed and then put it up on the market. She couldn't bring herself to want to go back to the home that held so many memories of her and House, the good and the bad. Rachel was young enough that she would have no sentimental attachment that she would have to worry about. This was probably the best time in her life to make the change. Until she was found a new place they could continue to stay with Wilson. Everything would be alright. She was finally beginning to feel like she had the ability to pick up the pieces of her current situation and move on to better days. It was a relief.<p>

She went through her morning routine as usual. It had been made much easier by the long nights sleep she had gotten. She saw Wilson briefly before she had to get to work. They both had a board meeting to attend, but she still had presentations to finalize while he could relax before he had to go to it. When they spoke there was no weird awkwardness between them. They had apparently both made silent vows to just let their moment slip on by. She was happy that they could move forward.

The board meeting went about as expected at the beginning. They discussed various budgets and normal concerns. She managed to avoid the topic of House for almost an hour. It seemed like she was not the only who was not in a rush to start the discussion, but as the list of viable topics dwindled down she knew it was time to just get it over with.

"Before we ajurn I would like to address the topic of the Diagnostic Department."

As she looked around almost everyone was nodding their heads and giving her their utmost attention. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Wilson setting his gaze on her giving her a supportive smile. She drew off of that and took a deep breath. She just needed to get this over with fast before she lost her nerve.

"It is no secret around her as to the events that occurred two days ago. I will not be divulging too many specific details about that seeing that it is my personal, private business, but I can tell you this, Dr. House will not be returning to PPTH."

Dr. Jacobson piped up from the end of the table, "Do we not get any say in that at all?"

"Dr. Jacobson, seeing that Dr. House is currently evading the police I did not think that it would be much of a discussion." Lisa retorted.

"Dr. Cuddy, why is it that you are only now deciding not to support Dr. House in every way you possibly can? Is it simply because this time it has gotten too personal?" Dr. Thomas asked with a wicked smile playing his lips. He had never been a fan of House's so naturally he had always hated how Cuddy was so quick to defend the diagnostician.

Lisa had been about to answer that, but Wilson got to it before she could, "Dr. Thomas don't you think that purposely trying to harm another human being is the time you stop protecting someone? Even if he had driven his car into another home there is no way Dr. Cuddy would ever back him up. There is a breaking point. House has finally pushed his actions past that point. It would be wrong of this hospital to accept him back with open arms after trying to harm another human being and on top of that evading the cops afterward. These are criminal charges, and before you even suggest it the last time he faced criminal charges he went to trial. He faced those charges and they were dropped. He is not facing them this time. He has gone into hiding. I am appauled that any of you are even for a moment questioning Dr. Cuddy's judgement. She has been nothing but an assett to this hospital. She put this hospital first, but this time Dr. House can no longer be looked at as a part of the hospital worth protecting. I, of all people want to see Dr. House come out of this alright, but I can not see any viable reason he should be allowed to stay practicing here. Letting him do that would be a disservice to Dr. Cuddy."

Lisa listened to Wilson defend her and couldn't fight the swell of affection that rose up inside her for him. He was making a choice. He was choosing her, at least when it came to who to keep at the hospital.

That was not going unnoticed by the board either. There was a lot of affirmative nodding among her peers. She felt a wave of relief washing over her. She had never thought they would want to get rid of her, but she was afraid that they would think this was nothing more than an ex lover's quarrel and question her judgment.

"So then what will happen to the department itself without Dr. House here." Dr Jacobson asked.

"I am shutting it down. Without him there is no way we will get the same kind of donor backing. His fellows are being reassigned among the departments, and the funds that used to go strictly to diagnostics will be distributed as the budget committee sees fit. We are also going to be gaining another colleague. Miss Katherine Crochet will be joining our ranks. She is a world renowned board certified neo-natal surgeon. I have been trying for years to get her to join us, and she has filled out the paper work to do just that today."

There was a round of applause and congratulations to Lisa for her new find. It seemed that the topic of House had all but been forgotten.

When it all ended she left the boardroom feeling very good about her decisions.

Wilson came up behind her and placed an arm around her shoulder smiling at her broadly, "See. That wasn't so hard was it?"

"Oh ha ha, yeah it was just so easy." She joked elbowing his side gently, "Thank for all of that in there. I know it helped out a lot."

He shook his head, "Don't thank me. I meant every word. They should be happy to have you. They had no right to question you like that. They have no idea what you went through."

She nodded, "I know, but still. It meant a lot to me." She had no way to explain to him how important it was to her that he chose her so easily. He just said it out in front of everyone that way. She wasn't used to having things happen so easily. Everything with House had always been such a struggle. He made choosing her look so easily, and maybe for him it was.

"I know." He stated softly giving her that knowing look that he had perfected all too well, "I have to get to work. So do you." He said with a playful smile, "Have a good day."

She watched him as he walked away having to shake her head a little to get herself to pull it all together. She had obviously been lonely for too long, starved for some sort of affection. She was holding on to her friend making a nice speech about her as if he had read aloud a love letter. It was ridiculous.

She spent the rest of her day as she normally did, ending it by picking Rachel up from Marina's.

She started supper up again making spaghetti for the three of them. She had plugged her ipod into the dock in the living room and was listening to music while Rachel played on the living room floor with Sarah.

"Did you have a good time with Aunt Katherine, Rachel?" Lisa asked while she stirred the marinara sauce.

"I did, Mommy! We ate cartoons and ordered food from the hotel! She told me about her trip to Europe! Mommy can we go to Europe?"

This made Lisa laugh a little, "Maybe one day, baby. Maybe when you are older."

"Why do I always have to be older to do stuff?" She asked with a pout.

"Because there are some things you won't fully appreciate until you are older. You will understand in time."

"That's stupid!"

Lisa shot her daughter a look, "We do not say that things are stupid."

"House said that the waitress at the diner was stupid."

Of course he did, she thought, "Well do you remember what mommy said about the things that House says?"

"No matter what he says he doesn't know everything!" She chanted back to her mother.

"That's right!" Lisa said with a laugh happy that that fact had stuck with her daughter.

The shuffle on her ipod changed and started playing "Footloose" by Kenny Loggins.

Rachel started bobbing her head then got up and started shaking her tiny behind, "I like this song mommy!"  
>Lisa grinned and moved over from the food to join her daughter, "You know what, I like this song too!"<p>

She started dancing with her daughter singing loudly along to the lyrics. Her feet slid easily on the hardwood floor thanks the socks on her feet and her moved easily around her shoulders as she shook her head in time with the music.

"You're burnin, yearnin for somebody to tell you life ain't passin you by! I'm tryin to tell you it will if you don't even trrryyyyy!" Wilson walked in to the Cuddy women dancing in his living room, the oldest of which singing along with abandon. A huge grin spread across his lips at the sight. He quickly put down his things and moved over to join them gyrating to the beat.

"Cut loose! Footloose!" He sang loud enough to get the attention of Lisa who had been dancing with her eyes closed. She laughed loudly a blush spreading on her cheeks from being caught, but she didn't stop dancing. What was the point now? They had already been caught. Instead she grabbed Wilson's hands and began dancing with him. He spun her expertly and moved with much the amusement of the youngest Cuddy who was very pleased to have both adults dancing with her to the song.

When the song ended Lisa fell against Wilson laughing to the point of almost crying. He laughed with her holding his arms around her to be sure that she didn't fall over.

Rachel jumped up and down and pulled on Wilson's pants leg, "Wilson! Wilson dance with me now!"

Lisa pulled away and smiled down at her daughter, "It seems that she wants to cut in."

Wilson stooped down and scooped Rachel into his arms, "Your wish is my command Little Princess."

"Did you hear that mommy? I'm a princess!" Rachel called to her mother who had walked into the kitchen to finish making supper.

"I did hear that baby, and you are. I always knew it." She looked up and grinned like a fool at the sight of Wilson danicng around the living room with her daughter to the beat of "I Guess That's Why They Call it the Blues" by Elton John.

Later that night after Rachel had been tucked into bed Lisa and Wilson found themselves sprawled out on the couch the same way they had been the night before, only this time with Lisa in charge of the remote.

"Explain to me how a movie about a woman who is hiding from her abusive husband is better than the cake baking show?"

Lisa rolled her eyes, "Because it has an actual plot line, Oprah recommended it, and I stole the remote and hid it before you got the chance to get ahold of it."

"Oh well who am I to complain if Oprah recommended it?" He retorted sarcastically.

Lisa smiled and looked over at him, "You were great with Rachel tonight. She had a lot of fun."

Wilson shook his head, "Quit thanking me for everything. I had fun with her. You didn't force me to do it. I wanted to do it."

"I guess I'm just not used to all of this."

"Used to what?"

"Someone doing things just to do it. Just to be nice. No agenda."

He looked at her curiously, "Cuddy... I've never had an agenda when it came to you."

"That's not true, Wilson. You were pretty manipulative when you wanted me to do something for House."

He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, "He is my best friend... I told you.. I had to be on his side."

She nodded, "I know. No, I know. I don't blame you. I would have done the same for Katherine. Its just... nice to have you on my side."

"Is that why you were so thankful for what I said?"

She nodded again, "Yeah. You chose me. For the hospital, you chose me."

He smiled a little, "I guess I really didn't think much of it. It was the natural choice. You belong in that hospital."

"I do, but you could have fought for House."

"It would have been wrong to fight for him. When he comes back, if he isn't in jail I will help him find a different job. Maybe in research if he can still keep his liscence, but he is done at PPTH."

She closed her eyes and nodded, "He is... I hate that."

"Me too, but just remember that he did this Cuddy. You didn't."

"I know. Did you see his office?"

"I did. I knew it was coming, but it still weird isn't it?"

She nodded in agreement, "It is. Its so empty. I have no idea what I am going to do with the space."

"I'm sure you will come up with something."

She laughed a little, "You have a lot of faith in me."

"All the faith in the world." He placed his hand on top of her knee, "And by the way, I can cook supper one night if you would just let me."

She rolled her eyes, "Didn't we have a discussion about allowing me to do some things for you?"

"We did, but you don't have to do it all the time."

"Twice isn't all the time, Wilson."

He rolled his eyes back at her, "I know, but still."

"You can do it if you can ever manage to get home before me."

He grinned and nodded in agreement, "Deal."


	9. And the Thunder Rolls

**A.N.: My apologies if my Wilson/Cuddy fluff is affecting anyone's love for Huddy -cough- Randy -cough- xD It was never my intention! Though if you are anything like me it is at least helping to heal the hole in your heart that David Shore and co.'s attempt at Huddy has left you with. Lets see what I can get done before I have to leave for work shall we?**

**NOT MINE! I wish, but yeah it won't ever happen.**

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><p>A week went by and in that time Wilson, Lisa, and Rachel fell into a pattern. Whoever got off of work first would be the one to fetch Rachel from Marina's and return to Wilson's loft to start dinner. More often than not this would be Lisa, but if Wilson really put his mind to it he would beat her home. Their nights were spent playing with Rachel then watching tv. It was simple, but they were reveling in the simplicity. It was nice and easy. Over the weekend they took Rachel to the zoo. She developed a love for otters which in turn resulted in Wilson purchasing Charlie the stuffed otter. Lisa had to roll her eyes at the power the small girl seemed to have over Wilson. If there was something she wanted all she had to do was flash her pleading blue eyes Wilson's way and he would fold like an origami crane. It was amusing for the most part, but if she didn't watch the two of them closely her daughter would end up eating much more chocolate than she should. Wilson meant well, of course, but by the end of the day they would both be cursing his spoiling ways when Rachel was jumping up and down on the bed on a sugar high instead of going to bed the way she was supposed to.<p>

Katherine had left to go back to New York. Her apartment needed to be packed up, and she needed to find someone willing to move her things from there to Princeton. Lisa's house had been finished two days ago, and soon she would be starting the job of packing up her own place. Most of her things would be going into storage until she found a place she liked, but she had decided to leave all her furniture, minus Rachel's things, and sell the place as a furnished home. She wanted to start out on a clean slate, furniture and all. Some people might say that she was running away, but she didn't see it that way. She saw it as letting go. It might have been a little more extreme than 'normal' people, but nothing about her time over the years would ever be categorized as normal. It was so much more than that. It was complicated and harsh. It was consuming and smothering. She needed to free herself from it, and if that meant buying new furniture then who around her had the right to judge her? At least she was trying to move forward. Some people wouldn't even be able to do that. Wilson, of course, supported her decision every step of the way. He was finally starting to merely be there for her instead of trying to do everything for her. She knew it was hard for him, but she was also pretty sure that that was why he was becoming so close to Rachel. A child was the ultimate definition of need. He could do for her all he wanted, and it would be because without him she wouldn't be able to do the things on her own. She needed to be taken care of. Lisa was starting to wonder why he had never had kids before. He would make an absolutely amazing father. She assumed that it was probably because his marriages never quite lasted long enough to consider kids.

House's former fellows had started in their individual departments. Foreman was still brooding, but Lisa knew he would get over it in time. She did not regret her decision to close the department. The budget committee was more than happy to move the funds into other spots around the hospital that needed them. As for the office, she had still not decided what to do with it. She figured that until she found something to do with it it would not hurt anything for it to stay empty. Her only problem was that it reminded her of his absence, but she simply avoided that by keeping away from the office. It wasn't hard to do. Without House around to monitor she had no real reason to go there.

At six o'clock one evening Lisa was sent sprinting down the hall towards Wilson's office, her heels clicking loudly against the tile. She entered without knocking, unusual for her, but it was an emergency.

When the door opened without any warning Wilson's head popped up expectantly, more than a little surprised to see Lisa standing there looking frazzled, "Cuddy?"

"Wilson, I need your help."

He nodded and stood up, "Anything. What is it?"

"There was a pile up on the interstate. Our ambulances are twenty minutes out and the ER is under staffed."

"You need me to stay."

She shook her head, "No I am calling in some of the other doctors, but in an emergency of this magnitude, I am required to be here. I will probably be here most of the night."

That was when it clicked in his head, "You need me to stay with Rachel."

"Yes." She admitted with a shy smile, "I'm sorry to do this to you, but Marina can't keep her overnight tonight and Katherine is still in New York."

"Cuddy, please. I've picked her up for you before. Whats so different if I have to go through the nightly routine with just me and her?"

"I don't doubt that you will be fine." She reached out and placed a hand on his arm, "I just hate to ask you to do this."

He offered her a soft smile and shook his head, "I've told you before that I want to help you. I am happy to finally get the chance."

She rolled her eyes, "You have helped me plenty."

"I suppose that is a matter of opinion."

"My opinion is the only one that matters in this case." She moved forward and pulled him into a hug, "Thank you again. I've got to go. In case I don't see you before you get to sleep, have a good night!"

"You too." He told her, returning her hug.

With a final smile thrown at him she took off back downstairs to deal with her impending disaster.

Wilson hurriedly finished the paperwork he had left then packed it in for the night. He had not been lying to Lisa. He did fine with Rachel's nightly routine without her. Other than a few questions about why her mother couldn't be there Rachel accepted her absence. She was fairly used to her mother not being able to be around from time to time. After her bath she settled down in the guest bedroom leaving Wilson to go into the living room to watch tv by himself.

A storm brewed over Princeton. Rain began to pour around nine o'clock and soon thunder and lightening accompanied it. Wilson didn't think anything of it until he heard Rachel calling from the guest bedroom for her mother.

He did his best to hurry to her, but her calls had quickly turned into sobs. He crawled onto the bed and sat down beside her pulling her onto his lap, "Rachel, its ok. I'm here. Whats wrong?" He whispered to her. His hand stroked her hair gently trying to calm the child down.

"The noise..." She choked out, "I HATE that noise."

The thunder. He should have known. He pulled her tighter against his chest, "Its thunder. I know it is scary, but it won't hurt you. You're safe. I wouldn't let it hurt you."

"Promise?" She sniffled and looked up at him.

"Would I lie to you?" He asked with a goofy smile.

She smiled through her tears and shook her head. Rachel snuggled her head up against his chest and took a deep breath, "Will you stay?"

"You want me to stay in here with you?"

She nodded.

He nodded a little in return, "Yeah. Yeah I will stay with you. Come on." He moved so that he could get under the covers with her. He propped himself up on his side allowing her to snuggle against his chest.

She was breathing normally now that her crying had stopped and it did not take her long to doze off next to him.

He followed closely behind her with his arm draped around her and his hand planted securely on her back.

When Lisa Cuddy came through the door at midnight the first thing she noticed was that the lights and tv were on in the living room. The abscence of Wilson caused her to panic. He never left those things on. She immediately dropped her things to the floor and ran into the guest bedroom. When she opened the door though she was stopped dead in her sight of James Wilson cuddled up with her daughter completely melted her heart. She considered waking him so that he could return to his room, but she decided against it. Instead she grabbed her pajamas out of the dresser, taking them into Wilson's bathroom not wating to use the guest bathroom for fear of waking them. When she was clean and dressed she turned off all the lights and the tv before climbing into bed on the other side of Rachel. She fell asleep with a smile on her lips that night.

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><p>The next morning she woke up with Rachel's face only inches from hers. When the girl saw her mother's eyes open she broke out into a huge smile, "Morning mommy!"<p>

Lisa closed her eyes again and smiled wide. She moved her arms around Rachel pulling her into a hug, "Morning baby girl."

"We made you breakfast mommy! Wilson said you had a long night and deserved a treat!"

Lisa kept her eyes closed and rubbed Rachel's back still hugging her, "Did you really? Did he mention shutting my alarm off too?" Even on her days off she was still accustomed to getting up early. She knew that it had to have been Wilson to have turned it off.

Instead of Rachel answering it was Wilson, "You deserved to sleep in. Sit up a little would you?"

She opened her eyes and let go of Rachel. She pulled herself into a sitting position and yawned. The next thing she knew Wilson was placing a tray over her lap. She smiled at the sight and shook her head, "Wilson you didn't..."

"I know I know I didn't have to, but I did. Just eat it ok?"

Rachel sat up on her knees beside her mother and handed her the fork off the tray, "I stirred the batter, mommy!"

"Well it looks amazing. Thank you." She leaned over and kissed her daughter's cheek.

"Wilson's turn Mommy! You have to thank him too. He cooked."

Wilson took that cue automatically and bent down pointing to his cheek, "Yeah, come on Mommy. I cooked." He teased.

Lisa rolled her eyes and leaned forward to kiss his cheek, but right before she was able to he turned and caught her lips in a brief kiss.

She pulled back quickly in shock and brought her hands up to touch her lips as if she was trying to figure out what just happened. She stared at him trying to figure out what he was thinking but all he did was stand up and put his hands on his hips, "Well... Uh.. Yeah your welcome." He said before clearing his throat and walking out.

She continued to stare at the door until Rachel tugged on her sleeve, "Mommy, whats wrong?"

"Nothing baby." She said, turning her head to smile at her daughter, "I was just thinking that Aunt Katherine was right. Wilson is very very sneaky."

"Because he kissed you?"

Lisa nodded and began to cut up her pancake, "Because he STOLE a kiss."

"Are you mad at him for stealing it?"

Lisa bit back a smile and gave that some thought, "No.. No I don't think I am." She admitted with a chuckle.

Rachel laughed with her, though she wasn't sure what she was laughing at. All she knew was that her mother was smiling more than she had been, and that made her very happy.


	10. Too Little Too Late

**A.N.: Oh snap... That is all I have to say. Oh. Snap.**

**I think by now you get that I don't own it.**

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><p>From the morning of their first an only kiss, Wilson and Cuddy had only gotten closer. A month had pass from that fateful morning. Much like other moments between them they silently agreed not to discuss the kiss. Both had enjoyed it, but pushing further in that way was not something they were willing to do. Not yet anyway. That didn't stop them from getting closer in other ways though. Lisa had seamlessly moved herself from laying her feet across his lap while they watched tv to cuddling into his side with his arm draped around her shoulders. Putting his arm around her shoulder had also become a common occurrence. Not at work, but when they would go out places. They acted as if it meant nothing, but Lisa secretly savored it. It wasn't like when House would draw her against him. When he had done it she would feel a thrill running through her entire body. She supposed that that was probably because affection from House was so uncommon. Wilson gave it readily, even as a friend. When Wilson put an arm around her it was comforting. She still felt heat at times between them, but it was a slow burn. It was not uncontrollable, and she liked it that way. She needed to be in control. He was not pushing, both happy in ignorance of what they really could be. The only one who really voiced any opinion on the matter was Katherine. She was wary of the entire situation. She knew that even though they swore that only friendship existed, it was turning into more. She was afraid for Lisa. Going from something as intense as her relationship with House to something that had the potential to be long term was scary. She wanted her friend to take her time, but no amount of complaining and explaining would get Lisa to admit that there was anything going on. In her heart she knew her friend was right, but she refused to acknowledge it. She liked things the way they were, which was probably why she was being so picky bout finding a new place to live. Her old home was being closed on, and she had yet to find a new place to live. Wilson insisted that it didn't matter to him. She should take her time. She was taking him at his word on that. She wasn't anymore ready to go than he was to have her go.<p>

Rachel was in absolute heaven. She was happy to be still living with Wilson, having two adults readily on hand to dote on her. He played and danced with her. He took her and her mother to the movies. Wilson was the fighter of the closet monsters and the warrior of the thunderstorms. The more he was arond the more she wanted him around. It was the perfect situation for the little girl. This was the only thing that did cause Lisa any worry. What would happen when they actually had to leave? The only conclusion she drew was that he would have to visit and often. When she mentioned it to Wilson, he readily agreed. He was a necessity in Rachel's life, and he was more than happy to play that role.

On a bright summer day Lisa Cuddy sat contently behind her desk. She was dressed in her red scoop neck top, black belt, and loose black skirt. She was comfortable and her mind was caught up in a day dream. Instead of actually doing the paper work that was piled in front of her she was instead caught up in thoughts of a possible vacation. She had been wanting to take Rachel to the beach, and she was beginning to wonder if she could convince a certain oncologist if he would come along. She was sure that Rachel would love the idea and that she would be able to work out both of their schedules to find the time. Scenes of walking down the beach with Rachel in between them played out in her mind causing her to grin like mad. It really was a good idea. She would have to ask Wilson what he thought about it. They wouldn't have to go for long. A week at most. How could he say no to that? Maybe she would get Rachel to do one of her little pouts. He would never say no to that.

Her daydream came with a cost. She was so caught up that she didn't see the shocked looks of the nurses at the nurse's station outside of her office. Had she seen that maybe she would have been prepared for what she heard.

"I recognize that top. Have you taken up IVF again? I don't think I have seen that outfit since the very first time you allowed me to look at your delicious backside." She closed her eyes and wrapped her hands tightly around the arms of her chair. She had never thought she would pray for something to be a hallucination, but the sound of the voice that was now making fear travel all through her body was something she would much rather be hallucinating.

However, when she finally looked up she was face to face with her reality. Greg House was sanding not five feet from her desk leaning on his cane and studying her with his bright blue eyes. He didn't look any different, but to be honest she had no idea why she expected him to. She pried her hand off the arm of her chair and picked up the phone. His interest perked at this. He stood up straighter and she could almost see him straining his ears to make sure he heard every word of what she said.

"Wilson."

"Cuddy.. You sound upset whats wrong?"

"I need you in my office. Now."

"I'm on my way."

Lisa hung up the phone and leaned back in her chair putting her hand right back on the arm of her chair.

House waited a few minutes for her to say something, but when she didn't he sighed, "Are you really just going to sit there? Seriously? I've been gone for over a month, and why did you call Wilson? We can't just talk like adults?"

She squeezed the arms of the chair until her knuckles turned white to keep herself from snapping, "Just shut up." She said quietly.

"I will not!" He said loudly taking a step towards her desk.

"House!" Wilson stared in utter shock finding his friend in Cuddy's office.

"Wilson! Good to see you. I was going to visit you after I talked to Cuddy, I swear, but she is having some sort of breakdown and need you here." He gestured towards Lisa's stiff form and shrugged his shoulders, "Maybe she needs a trip to Mayfield."

Wilson rolled his eyes at his friend and moved behind the desk to place a hand on Lisa's shoulder, "Hey... You ok?"

Lisa nodded and relaxed a little under his touch, "Get him out of here before I call the cops."

House plopped himself down on one the chairs in front of her desk, "No can do, boss lady. We have lots to discuss."

"House don't push her." Wilson warned.

"I've given her enough time."

At that, Lisa tensed up again, "GIVEN ME TIME?"

"Lisa, its ok." Wilson whispered to her.

She glared up at him, "No he wants to talk? Fine. I am going to talk." She looked back at House shooting daggers at him with her eyes, "Given me time? Really? Fuck you, House. You destroyed my dining room then ran away from the cops. I can't even begin to understand how you can walk in here acting like it was all ok. It was not ok. We are not ok. I should have your ass thrown in jail for this. Do you have any idea what you did? You could have killed me or Julia or Ben or Jerry. Hell, you could have killed Rachel!"

He resisted the urge to make a Ben and Jerry joke and focused on the task at hand, "I would have stopped. I didn't want to hurt you."

This made her laugh loudly, "Lets pretend for a second that that made any sense. Lets pretend that you could have in fact stopped that car from hitting my house at the speed you were going. If Rachel was playing on the floor you would have never seen her. You know how she likes to hide. She could have been hiding under the table. You had no regard for any of our safety. Explain to me how this was ok to do in your head. Please. I would fucking love to hear it. Explain to me what made you go from loving me to hating me so much that you would try to murder me."

"I WASN'T TRYING TO MURDER YOU!" He yelled with a hurt expression on his face.

"Bullshit! And wipe that expression off your face. I get to be hurt. You don't. I'm done feeling bad for you so cut it out."

He took a deep breath and leaned forward to rest his chin on top of his hands on his cane, "Cuddy.. I was upset when I saw that guy. I overreacted, but I never wanted to hurt you. I was just.. Making a statement.I wanted to impact your life the same way you did mine."

she rolled her eyes, "Impact my life the way you did mine. Do you realize how you have been impacting my life for YEARS? With all your stunts and your obsessive need to drive all other men out of my life. I have been cleaning up your messes for longer than I can remember, but I am done. I refuse to do it anymore."

"You are still my boss."

"Do you really think you still have a job here?" She looked at him like he had sprouted two heads, "Wow.. I have given you too much credit. You are extremely dense."

House looked up at Wilson, "You let her fire me?"

Wilson held his hands up in surrender, "Hey, I'm just the guy you almost ran over. It is her decision, and I support her. You are currently hiding out from the cops. You expected to still have a job.?"

House scoffed at that, "I was not hiding. I was on vacation."

Wilson nodded, "Uh huh. And where the hell were you anyway?"

"Driving."

"How were you doing that? I had your car towed from out of my house." She asked curiously.

"Took the convertible out of storage... That is after I came to in a hotel over by the interstate. I was pretty fucking stoned. Hallucinated a bad ass beach."

She shook her head a little, "Should have known."

"What were you doing for money? The cops were tracking your credit card activity." Wilson asked.

"I had a good bit of cash on me. I ate cheap and stayed at cheap hotels. Gas was the real bitch, but I made do." He looked back at Cuddy and gave her his softest look, "Cuddy.. What I did was wrong and I'm sorry. I need you to know that."

"I believe half of that. It was wrong. As far as you being sorry.. I'm skeptical."

"I never told you this but.. Cuddy I need you in my life. I need you, and I love you." He admitted looking at her like Wilson didn't exist at all. This made the oncologist rather uncomfortable and he quickly took a step away from Lisa.

Lisa fought off every feeling that threatened to flood over her. He was saying things that she had wanted to hear for so long, but it was all too little too late, "You may need me in your life, but I do not need you." She told him quietly, "You destroyed me, or you tried to anyway. You gave me hell while you slept with hookers and married Dominica. I deserve more than that. I can't have you around. Its not good for me, and its not good for my daughter."

His eyes narrowed on her, "So what? You are just going to kick me out of your life? What happened to "You are always going to be in my life"?"

"You did this House. You don't just get to walk back into my life like nothing happened. You've gone too far."

"What the hell am I supposed to do? What other hospital will have me?"

At this Wilson stepped back up, "We can find you a job in research." He suggested.

House rolled his eyes, "Fuck research. I need my puzzles. I need this job. I need you." He said staring at Cuddy. How long had he been practicing letting those words roll off his tongue? Is that what had taken him two months?

"I'm sorry, House. Your needs are no longer my responsibility." Tears began to glisten in her eyes. She was losing her resolve. House saw it and so did Wilson. House was preparing himself to push her further when Wilson reached out and took her hand.

"Its ok." He whispered to her.

This caught House's full attention and he was up on his feet in an instant, "What the fuck are you doing Wilson?"

"I'm holding my friend's hand."

House glared at him, "The hell you are. You are looking at her like a concerned lover." He cast his glare on Cuddy now, "Is this why you are so keen to move on? You are going to start sleeping with my best friend? What kind of cold hearted bitch does that?"

The tears that had gathered in her eyes fell down her cheeks, but no more replaced them. Instead she found her eyes filled with rage as she looked up at him, "I am not sleeping with Wilson, but even if I was it wouldn't be any of your damn business! You made your choices!"

"YOU BROKE UP WITH ME!"

"YOU DIDN'T FIGHT FOR ME!" She stood up keeping a strong hold on Wilson's hand, "You let me go and ran off to hookers. You are MARRIED. You drove a CAR into my HOUSE. You made your bed now you have to lie in it. I will not feel bad for it. I refuse. You can not make me hurt anymore. I am not going to let you."

He looked between his friends and shook his head, "This is not happening. I won't let it."

Wilson was about to speak up when the door burst open. Katherine set her glare on House and immediately walked over throwing a punch straight to House's jaw. He stumbled back but was able to catch himself on the couch.

"Word travels fast in this place. Seems the whole hospital is talkin bout the psychotic gimp having a screamin match with his former boss. You have a hell of a lot of nerve walkin in here like nothin happened."

"KATHERINE!" Lisa scolded, shocked by her friend's violence.

House rubbed his jaw and shook his head, "That is my cue to leave." He looked back over at Cuddy, "I may not have fought before, but I am going to fight now." He said before limping his way out of the office.

Katherine restrained herself from trying to hit him again and instead moved to her friend's free side, "You alright."

Lisa nodded a little, "Yeah... I think I am. It feels like nothing at all has changed. It was like having him come in fighting for some crazy treatment. The only difference was that he was trying to fight for a second chance." She looked to Katherine, "You shouldn't have done that you know."

Katherine merely shrugged that off."

"Are you willing to give it to him?" Wilson asked curiously, "I mean... Now that he is back will you press charges?"

"I thought I would, but now that he is here, I don't feel like putting up the fight. I used to spend so much time protecting him I can't see putting all that effort into putting him in jail. As for his second chance, he isn't getting one. Things are going good the way they are. He would just ruin it." She looked up at him silently letting him know that he was definitely a part of what she didn't want him screwing up.

Wilson flashed her a smile and squeezed her hand.

Katherine simply rolled her eyes, "Oh yeah there is nothing going on between the two of you. My job here is obviously done." She squeezed Lisa's shoulder before taking her leave of the office.

With her gone Wilson dared to draw Lisa into a hug, "What do you think he is going to do?"

She shook her head and leaned in to him, "I have no idea, but to be honest I am not very anxious to find out."

Wilson let her go and stepped back from her, "I have to go to him. I need to know that he is really ok."

Lisa nodded a little, "I know. Go to him. He needs you."


	11. The Fear of Being Alone

**A.N.: Who missed House? Even in a Wilson/Cuddy fic we can't just NOT have House. He will always belong in both of their lives. In this chapter House will divulge some of his reasonings and plans. Wilson will try to convince him to not do something too terrible. Its just how they roll. Be kind to me. This is going to be my first chapter completely outside of Cuddy's head. I am hoping I will do ok, but it scares me just a bit.**

**I would love to own the boys, but alas I do not.**

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><p>Wilson had fairly good instincts when it came to all things House, usually. The whole driving a car through Cuddy's house had thrown him off, but now that he was back Wilson was fairly sure that he knew where he would be. House would be at his apartment probably drinking and waiting for his presence at his door.<p>

Wilson had no idea what to think anymore. House had never left his mind. Worry for his friend had been a constant thought in the back of his mind, but he had never expected his friend to not only come back thinking it would all be the same as well as pronouncing his love and need for Lisa Cuddy. He was torn in between feeling territorial and ashamed. Territorial because no matter how much they had denied it he and Cuddy were starting something. He had always had a place in his heart for her. House had said multiple times that he knew that Wilson had said feelings, but that Amber had grabbed him first before he could make a proper move. He hadn't been wrong. House was rarely wrong. The thing was that when it came to House, Wilson always put himself second. When he knew for a fact House had feelings for Cuddy he knew that he would no longer let himself think about her that way. He could always find another woman, but what other woman would ever put up with House? He had driven Stacey away too many times. He drove away Cameron. Cuddy was the only one that had the potential to never break, or so they all thought. House had found the breaking point and beat it in with a baseball bat. When Wilson saw his friend walk away from the scene with a smile on his face he was so sure that House no longer cared for her. That was his way of letting her go. He hadn't meant to let himself get so close to Cuddy, but having her there everyday the way she was was undeniable. It was easy and it felt right. On top of that he had completely fallen in love with her daughter. It was an easy thing to do. Rachel was adorable, and her mother was incredible. Funny, smart, gorgeous, what man wouldn't start to fall all over again? He hadn't even really meant to kiss her. He was waiting for the kiss on the cheek, but when he felt her moving closer he just turned. No thought was put into it. Pure impulse on his part, but he wasn't upset about it. Even from such a simple kiss he could still feel her lips on his, and she looked absolutely adorable just sitting there staring at him with stunned eyes. It was so good, but now... Well now he was ashamed. He and House had always said bro's before hoe's, but House had basically declared war on him back in Cuddy's office. Cuddy was obviously not expecting him to back down, but a huge part of him was screaming that he had to. House needed her more than he did, but damn it he was getting tired of never getting anything good. All of his relationships got fucked up. Most of the time it was his fault, but he was growing up. He was learning. Things with Cuddy would be different. She didn't need him like all the others had. He could be there for her, but it wasn't a job. It wasn't a necessity. She was more than capable of standing on her own two feet, but she was allowing him to move in at her side. He felt special that she was allowing him to get that close. They had never had a full conversation about what was going on between them, but he was certain that she was feeling something building there too. Was he really meant to give that all up because his best friend was back? Was that what was required of him to be a good friend? He loved House. He loved his friend dearly, but he was not sure if he was ready to just back off. Didn't he deserve a chance at happiness too?

All of these thoughts swam through Wilson's head as he knocked on his friend's door. House answered, but quickly shut the door so that they would only be looking at each other through a crack in the door, "TRAITOR! Give me one good reason why I should let you in."

Wilson rolled his eyes and lifted up a paper bag for him to see, "I brought you a Reuben."

House nodded his head and stepped aside opening the door as he did to let Wilson in, "Good enough for me. Leave your peace offering on the table and tell me what you are doing here."

Wilson walked over to the couch and put the bag on the coffee table. He took a minute to get comfortable before looking over at House who had joined him on the couch, "Did you really think you would have a job waiting for you?"

House shook his head, "No, but if I told her that I was just there to get her back she would have thrown me out before I got the chance to get to her. You saw the tears. I got to her" He said almost proudly.

Wilson scoffed, "I can't believe you are looking at that as a triumph. I held her for an hour while she sobbed at three in the morning after what you did."

House at least had the decency to look ashamed and stared down at his shoes, "I'm not proud of what I did, ok? I hadn't planned it. I'm sorry about your arm too. I saw you holding it when I left."

Wilson nodded, "Just a sprain, but no matter if you thought it out or not House, what you did was unacceptable. I remember you telling me that Cuddy had screamed at you after you made your little announcement on the balcony. You said that she told you that what you had done was beyond asshood. This was above and beyond asshood."

"I made her cry that day too."

"You've made her cry lots of times, House."

House turned a little more to face Wilson, "I don't want to hurt her anymore. I just want the second chance I deserve."

Wilson rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, "If you would have said this three months ago I might have agreed, but you have done everything in your power to destroy your second chance. Lets say for a second that she might forgive you for the car thing, do you expect her to play mistress to you and Dominica?"

House scoffed at that, "We haven't even consummated the marriage. It means nothing to me or the courts." He kicked his feet up on the coffee table and added, "Speaking of courts, is she pressing charges?"

Wilson shook his head, "No. She doesn't think it would be worth the effort on her part."

A grin spread quickly across House's face, "See. She can't deny me."

"Not pressing charges does not mean that she is going to let you back in."

The grin fell from House's lips, "You just say that because you are finally acting on your deep seeded Cuddy feelings."

"I am not."

"You have never been a very good liar, especially to me, so just cut the crap. There was something there."

"We haven't done anything." Wilson told him ademently.

House nodded, "I figured you would both be too stubborn. Keep it that way."

Wilson furrowed his brow, "Just like that? You say the word and I should just bury my feelings?"

"I saw her first." House stated simply.

"Are you kidding me House? No. It doesn't work like that."

"I love her." House challenged, "Can you say the same?"

"I think I could."

House shook his head, "That's not enough. What Cuddy and I have..."

"Is an inferno." Wilson finished for him, "Cuddy and I have talked about the two of you. She loves you too, but you have slowly been killing that. You will always have a place in her heart, but the inferno between you isn't enough. She wants it all. Passion and companionship. Partnership. You couldn't give her that."

House rolled his eyes, "What the fuck does inferno mean?"

"Most people have a spark. You had an inferno."

"Damn straight we did." House said with a smirk, "So you are ok coming in second? Having my sloppy seconds."

"First off, don't ever call Cuddy sloppy seconds. She would never be that to anyone."

House nodded, "Fair enough."

"Second, She would be far from my first love. Amber will always have a piece of me, and Sam will too. Neither of us are coming out of things unscathed, but that doesn't make us less good together. We know what we are doing."

House shook his head, "I can't just step aside. I need her. It took me this long to admit it. It took me this long to realize she needs to hear all of that. She needs to be reminded that I love her and I need her."

Wilson sighed a little, "I know she is important to you but..." He shook his head, "I just don't know."

House patted Wilson's shoulder lightly, "You don't have to decide right now. This is complicated."

Wilson rolled his eyes, "It is unnerving to hear you sounding supportive."

That made House laugh, "Me? Supportive? Hardly. Either way I am getting her back. If I have to stomp all over your boyish face to get there I will."

"Charming, House."

House waved that off, "What do you think it would take to get my job back though? I do want it back, even though I honestly wasn't expecting to still have it."

Wilson shrugged his shoulders a little, "When she told the board about you leaving I basically said that not supporting her decision to keep you out would be a disservice to her. She isn't pressing charges so that won't be an issue, but this is something she will have to decide on her own. You've got a lot of work to do."

House nodded, "Yeah I definitely have that."

Wilson glanced at his watch then stood up, "Look, no matter what I am glad that you are back and you are ok. We will all figure things out in time."

"We will. I'm glad to be back too." They both know that this would be as close to saying 'I miss you' as they would get.

Wilson nodded, "I gotta go."

"Hot date?" House asked sarcastically.

"Oh yeah. She is three with an irrational new found love of otters. I can't keep her waiting." Wilson smiled thinking about the little girl.

House narrowed his eyes, "You are meeting Rachel?"

"Well yeah I told Cuddy I would pick her up from Marina's and bring her home."

Now House was just plain confused, "You are living with Cuddy?"

"She is living with me until she finds a new place. She sold her house after they fixed the wall."

"Oh. Ok go get the kid then."

"Bye House."

"Bye Wilson."

* * *

><p>After Wilson left House's mind was reeling. It was one thing for Wilson to be exploring his little crush on Cuddy, it was another to get close to Rachel. That kid loved him, and she was the key to Cuddy. He had not thought for even a moment that getting her back would be easy, but this was by far a much bigger complication than he would have ever imagined. He didn't want to lose her or Wilson. He didn't want to be alone. Not anymore He was going to have to get creative.<p>

He got up from the couch and limped into the kitchen to find his phone. He opened it and chose a contact he had never used before, but kept it as a just in case sort of thing. When a female voice picked up on the other end he spoke up, "Sam? It's House."


	12. Pressure

**A.N.: Don't be afraid I died or anything! I am getting to this so late because of my job, and by the looks of my new schedule this is going to be a pattern for the next week at least. In fact Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday I might not be posting at all. My job is making me pull graveyard shifts. NOT FUN. I would much rather be on my computer like the lazy thing that I am xD But I have to make some money to pay for gas and other shit. You know how it goes, or maybe you don't. If you don't, consider yourself lucky,**

**I don't own. You know the drill.**

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><p>Lisa called Wilson shortly after five to let him know she would be stuck at the hospital for a few more hours at least. She had gotten a call from a donor earlier in the day insisting that their meeting be moved up a full week. If she wanted him to donate for the expansion of the cardiac unit she had to get the proposal ready for him before the end of the night. Wilson had been understanding, as always. He quickly promised that he would take care of Rachel for her and not to worry. Her worry about his attachment to Rachel and vice verse sprouted up again, but she kept her mouth shut. He had sworn to her that he would visit Rachel and keep up an active role in the child's life, but that could change with the direction of the wind. She didn't want to over think it, but she was still dealing with Rachel's occasional curiosity about House's absence. She didn't want to go through that two times over. How do you explain to a three year old that a man who had been an almost constant presence in her life for nearly a year would no longer be able to come over and watch cartoons with her? She didn't understand, and there was no explanation that Lisa was willing to give her child that would make her understand. She knew, though, that Wilson deserved the benefit of the doubt. He was not House, and she was certain that if he said he would continue to see her he would. She just needed to stop worrying. Wilson was not House.<p>

Wilson was not House. That was sentence that kept playing over and over again in her head all day. House's insistence that he would fight for her had her worried. Whatever she was starting with Wilson was new. What they were doing was hardly even worthy of being called baby steps, but it was working for them. It was nice. They were enjoying themselves. She didn't want to lose what they had before it even began. Their new found relationship was not a necessity. She didn't need a man, but for the first time since her break up with House she found herself drawn to one. If House pushed, she was afraid Wilson would buckle. On one hand, like she had been reminding herself, Wilson was not House. He would not bail just because things got difficult. If anything when things got bad he usually stood even stronger. He thrived on stress and helping the people he cared about. The real problem was that, again, Wilson was not House. He would not put his wants first. If House really wanted her, she would venture a bet that Wilson would be contemplating stepping aside for House. It would be pointless, but she feared that she might be right. She hoped she would not be, but it was a possibility.

At nine o'clock she was finally reaching the end of her proposal. A knock on her door let her know that Katherine was letting herself in. The blond plopped herself down on Lisa's couch and looked over at her, "Well? Have you heard from the gimp again?"

Lisa shook her head, "No I have not heard from HOUSE again. I wish you wouldn't call him that."

Katherine rolled her eyes, "I really thought that after he drove his car into your house you were going to stop defendin him. Guess I was wrong."

Lisa put her pen down and rubbed her temples, "It isn't just black and white, Katherine. I don't hate him. I wish I did. I have made my decision. I am done with him, but that doesn't mean I can hate him. He has been around for over half of my life."

"But you don't want him."

Lisa thought about that for a second, "I can't say that either."

"LISA COME ON!" Katherine exclaimed, getting frustrated with her friend.

"Calm down Katherine!" She insisted, "Let me finish. I want him. I want him to be the man I know he can be. I want him to let me in. I want him to put my needs above his, but he will never do those things. Not really. I could give him a second chance, and while I know he would try he would not be able to give me all the things I want. I thought I could settle for whatever he was willing to give me, but I can't. I deserve more, and for once I am going to be selfish. If that means me being alone, then so be it. I don't need a man."

Katherine shook her head, "I know an oncologist who would gladly keep you warm. You don't have to be alone."

"There is nothing..."

Katherine quickly cut her off, "Stop lying to me already!"

Lisa leaned back in her chair and smiled a little, "We really haven't done anything."

Katherine pointed a finger at her, "Not yet."

"Not yet." Lisa admitted.

"Its bout damn time! That is all you had to say!" Katherine smiled victoriously and continued, "Now that you have admitted it, can I state that it is probably a bad idea? You know he cheated on his wives."

"I know he did, but he has changed since then. I don't know all of the stories, but I trust him."

"You trust everyone."

"Now that isn't true. I'm just not as cynical as you."

Katherine chuckled at that, "Fair enough."

Another knock on her office door signaled the entrance of Chase, "Sorry Dr. Cuddy, but Katherine told me to meet her here." His gaze shifted to Katherine, "Ready to go?"

Katherine nodded and stood up.

Lisa shook her head and gave Katherine a 'REALLY?' look.

Katherine scoffed, "Don't look at me like that. Just because you move at a snails pace doesn't mean I do." With that she took her leave.

* * *

><p>It was ten thirty by the time Lisa was dragging herself into the living room of Wilson's loft. She smiled a little when she found him on the couch, "You didn't have to wait." She said placing a hand on his shoulder.<p>

"It wasn't a big deal. I have been watching a documentary on cells. I have some food for you in the oven." He shifted and then stood up. If Lisa didn't know any better she would say that he was intentionally putting distance between them

She followed him into the kitchen where he started to heat up her food in the microwave, "You could have just told me. I would have come in here and gotten it myself."

"No trouble."

There was definitely something different going on. He was evading her, "James, how did it go with House?"

He shrugged a little, "He is ok. Bound and determined to get you back."

"He won't." She stated simply.

"House is House. He wants you." He was intentionally avoiding eye contact with her. It was starting to get on her nerves.

"Well you can't always get what you want. He knows that." She said in an irritated tone.

"He also knows that if you try you get what you need. He needs you."

"No! Stop it Wilson! You can not stand there basically telling me I will end up with him because it is what he wants. What he needs. What about what I need? This is my decision. I refuse to keep doing this dance with House. I will always love him, but that is not enough. I need more. I want more."

Wilson nodded, "You should do whatever is best for you. Just be prepared for him."

Lisa narrowed her eyes, "And I guess I will be on my own for that then?"

He was well aware that she was basically asking without actually asking if he would be backing away from her, "I.. You have Rachel." He said still not meeting her eyes.

"Oh that's rich! I can not believe you." She said in a harsh tone, "He comes back and now we just act like nothing was happening."

"He is my best friend, Cuddy." He said in almost a whisper finally resting his sad gaze on her.

She nodded, "I know that. I do, but he and I are through, no matter what he wants. He destroyed what we had. We will never be together again, but you and I... I don't know. This has been nice right?"

"Of course it has." He insisted, "But House..."

"Screwed up."

"I don't know what to do." He admitted.

"I know. I knew this was coming, in a way. You always put yourself second to him. I used to too, but I can't anymore. I deserve a good life. You do too." She moved over to him and placed her hands on his shoulders while he tentatively moved his to her hips, "We don 't HAVE to do this. If you want to walk away you can."

"I.. I want this. I want to try, but I just.." He let that trail off. He sounded so unsure. She knew he needed time.

"I want this too. I would love to see where it would go, but the ball is in your court. I am ready to move on. I can do it alone or I can do it with you. Either way you have a lot to think about." She then surprised him by leaning in and pressing her lips against his. The kiss was tentative at first, but slowly she deepened it. Her tongue ran along his bottom lip, and he willingly opened his mouth to allow her access. Her arms moved around his neck and she pressed herself against his front while his arms drew tighter around her. The pull he felt on his groin and the heat she felt between her legs told them loud and clear that their curiosity about whether they would work was well deserved. They stood this way for a few minutes the kiss growing in intensity until they finally broke free of it.

Wilson leaned his forehead against hers trying to gain control of his breathing and heart rate again, "Lots to think about..."

She chuckled a little, "I wanted you to have all the facts before you made a decision."

She removed herself from the embrace and picked up the plate he had made for her wrapping it back up and putting it in the fridge, "I think I will just go to bed." She started to walk out, but stopped before rounding the corner turning back to face him, "Hey Wilson."

"Yeah?"

She smiled a little, "That was a spark right?"

He flashed her a big goofy grin, "Definitely a spark. Possibly a small bonfire."

She laughed a little, "Small bonfire. I could live with that." Thankful for the confirmation she continued on into the guest bedroom and closed the door behind her.

Wilson leaned himself up against the kitchen counter and ran his hands over his face suddenly feeling absolutely exhausted. He may have now had all the facts, but he felt so much further from a decision that he had been previously.


	13. Jar of Hearts

**A.N.: That feeling you get where you know you have slept way too long, but you are still sleepy and want to go back to sleep? I have thought. Not sure why I am putting it here, but I figured I would share.**

**If I own the gang then I wouldn't need to be writing this. I would have Huddy, Wilson would have someone, and I would hire someone to make up INTERESTING cases.**

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><p>Going to Sam was low. House knew it, but he also knew that if he didn't do something his best friend was going to end up with his ex. That was unacceptable. He had made mistakes. Big mistakes, but he did not think they were unforgivable. Not for Cuddy anyway. Cuddy always found a way to forgive him. It was a part of who she was. She could move past pretty much anything. The car thing pushed her, he could admit that. He should have had more control over his anger, but no one had been hurt. He wasn't out for blood. It had just been a way to show that he didn't approve of what she was doing. He probably should have found another way to go about it, but the past was the past. He couldn't change the past, but he could try to make it up to her. He just had to get Wilson out of the way. He didn't want to hurt his friend. He wanted Wilson happy. He just didn't want Wilson happy with his Cuddy. House knew that Wilson had had trouble moving past Sam after the breakup. She could be his savior in all of this mess. If he could fix them then he would be free to fix things between himself and Cuddy. It was a win win for them all. The irony that he had worked so hard to get rid of Sam at first was not lost on him by a long shot.<p>

Sam, he was sure, was only meeting him out of curiosity. They had agreed upon a local diner. House had shown up a little early grabbing a booth in the back and ordering himself a drink while he waited.

Sam walked in and found him after a few glances around. She had finally fixed her hair after the one really bad haircut she had had right before she walked out on Wilson. It was straight falling down to her shoulders. She looked good. He wouldn't deny that Sam was an attractive woman if you liked simplicity. House had never been a fan of simplicity.

Sam sat down across from him and folded her hands in front of her on the table, "Ok House. Tell me what's going on. What could possibly have you so desperate that you had to call me?"

"Can't a guy just call up another guy's ex girlfriend and not have an agenda?" He deflected.

Sam rolled her eyes, "I don't have time for this. Either speak up or I'm leaving."

House sighed and sat back, "Wilson misses you."

"Wilson and I had our chance. Hell we had two. It just didn't work."

"Do you miss him?"

"That really doesn't matter." She told him.

"Yes it does. You are so busy over thinking and over reacting that you can't see that what you and Wilson had was rare. He was ready to marry you. Did he jump to some wrong conclusions? Sure, but is that really a reason to bail on him? He loved you. I think you loved him."

Sam nodded, "Maybe I did over react, but when you already tried once and failed you gut a little gun shy about your second time around. He was wanting to move towards marriage and he couldn't even trust me. It was too fast."

House could see flashes of Cuddy and their first try, but he quickly pushed that aside and moved forward, "You couldn't have just told him that? He would have backed off. He probably would have done counseling. He would have done anything for you. You didn't give him the same consideration."

Sam rubbed her forehead and sighed, "What do you want House?"

"I want you to give him his third chance. Isn't three strikes THEN you are out?"

"What makes you think that after all this time he would even want his third chance?"

House rolled his eyes, "I know my best friend. He is hurt, but he didn't stop loving you."

"I didn't stop loving him. It was just.." She shook her head a little trying to find the right word, "hard. Scary."

"What the hell is worth doing if it isn't hard and scary? Life isn't easy. That doesn't mean you get to run from it."

Sam studied him for a second before asking, "Why are you doing this? You hated me."

"I am practicing not being selfish. He is lonely. He shouldn't be. You can fix that. One plus one equals three... Wait."

She rolled her eyes, "Yeah yeah. This." She gestured to him, "is fishy, but if James is really missing me.. Well I miss him too."

House clapped his hands together, "GREAT! How about we go by the hospital. He should be going on lunch soon. You two crazy kids can talk this out."

"Now?"

"The sooner the better. I only have so much patience for sad puppy dog Wilson."

* * *

><p>The clinic was over flowing. There was something about Fridays that always brought out every single person in Princeton. Maybe it was a last minute thought for them, having remembered that the free clinic would be closed over the weekend. No matter what the problem was it was up to Lisa to get it under control. She pulled a doctor from Pediatrics and started working herself. Most of the people could be handled with little to no thought at all. That included her current patient who had somehow managed to hook his hand with a fish hook instead of a fish. Because of the simplicity of her task she allowed her mind to wander as she began the task of extracting the hook.<p>

She had kissed James Wilson last night. It was a good kiss. Great kiss actually. Had she been willing, it could have very well led them straight into his bedroom, but it would have been a bad idea. With him considering dropping their little relationship experiment there was no way she was going to allow sex to happen. No matter what her mother might say to the contrary she was not a slut. She did enjoy sex, but she had a daughter to think about. Sex would just complicate things even further. She was not willing to take that step till they were both sure they wanted to try to make it last. Maybe she was over thinking things, but it didn't matter. He wasn't pushing it any further either, so she didn't have to concern herself too much with it. What concerned her was the fact that she was waiting around for him to make a decision about how her life was going to proceed. She despised not having control. She despised waiting around for him to get his shit together. She especially despised that he seemed to be avoiding her this morning. He never exited his room the entire time she and Rachel were getting ready. How very mature. She knew he would be a little awkward, but that was pushing it. She needed to find a place and fast. This had gotten much too complicated. She had been putting off the inevitable for too long. It was time to move out.

"Ok Mr. Clark you are now hook free. Your records indicate that you are caught up on your tetanus, so we won't have to worry about that. Just try to catch a fish instead of your hand next time, ok?" She teased him with a smile.

The patient nodded, thanked her, and took his leave.

Lisa made her way out of the exam room and to the nurse's station. She was about to grab a patient file when she saw Sam Carr walking through the lobby towards the elevator. She watched in complete shock until she caught a glimpse of House out of the corner of her eye. He too was heading for the elevators. This was all his doing. She shook her head and took off out of the clinic. She caught House firmly by the arm and steered him wordlessly towards the clinic.

House allowed himself to be captured with a huge smile playing on his lips, "Ohhhh I love it when you get rough with me. Do you still have the leather body suit in your office?"

She ignored him until she had him securely inside her office, "I saw Sam. What are you doing? Are the other ex wives going to stop by too? Should I call Stacey so we can make this a party?"

"Oh please, don't be ridiculous. The other ex wives are remarried. I am not a home wrecker you know!" He exclaimed, feigning hurt.

She plopped herself down on her couch and shook her head, "Wilson is going to do whatever he wants. If he gets back with Sam it is his choice. That won't change my mind."

House made his way over and sat down on the couch next to her, "I don't know how many different ways I can apologize to you." He said quietly.

She turned her head a little so that she could look at his face, "House.." She said quietly, "You told me before that I saw the way things were and they way things could be, but what I didn't see was the giant gaping chasm in between. I see the chasm, and it is too big. I wish it wasn't, but it is."

"That's not true."

She shook her head, "It is. What we had was a good try, but I can't handle trying it again. i don't want to lose you, but if you can't handle a friendship then we aren't going to have anything."

He kept his sad, blue eyes on her face trying hard not to be upset by what she was saying, "I don't want to lose you either... I can't." He admitted in a whisper.

She took his hand in hers, "Then be my friend. That is all I have to offer you. Don't push me. You are going to break me again, and I can't take it. Let me love my friend."

"I don't know if I can be ok with just that."

"I will understand if you can't, but if you can't then I can't be around you."

"I can try." He piped up.

She smiled, "Good."

He looked down at their joined hands and ran his thumb over her hand, "Don't you miss me?" He asked quietly.

She turned her gaze on their hands as well and nodded, "More than I ever thought I could."

"Can't we just..."

She cut him off and pulled her hand away from him, "No House. We can't. I can't. How many times do I have to say it? I thought you said you would try!"

House rolled his eyes, "You expected me to change after only five minutes? I love you Cuddy. Stopping that is harder than you make it look."

Lisa glared at him, "I make it look easy? House, I didn't stop loving you. I probably never will, but love isn't always enough!"

"I thought that love conquered all?" He quiped sarcastically.

She rolled her eyes, "Please. I know you don't believe that."

"It sounds nice."

That made her laugh, "Sure it does, but that doesn't make it true."

He nodded and leaned his head against the back of the couch, "Wilson has been married three times you know." He randomly threw out.

"I am well aware."

He turned his head to look at her, "So why don't you see the chasm for him?"

"He never drove a car through my house." She teased.

He rolled his eyes, "Seriously." He insisted.

"Seriously? I think we deserve a chance to see. Maybe the chasm is small. Maybe we can build a bridge. We deserve the chance."

"And I deserve a second chance." He threw out.

"No. You don't. I hate that you can see everyone else's mistakes so clearly, but you are blind to your own."

"I am not blind!" He insisted, "I just have selective vision."

She shook her head, "You're an idiot."

"I don't want you with him."

"You don't want me with anyone." She corrected.

"Yeah, but if you are with Wilson who the hell am I going to complain about you and your boyfriend to?"

"Call Foreman. He is pissed at me. You two can bitch about me." She suggested.

"You pissed off Foreman."

She nodded, "Closed down diagnostics. Didn't give him a second chance to run it."

Before he could pry any further a flustered looking Wilson came charging into her office. He had wanted to just complain about House, but having him actually in the room was even better, "I can not believe you!" He said pointing at him accusingly.

"I did you a favor." House insisted.

"A favor? A FAVOR? You... You.." He took a deep breath and closed his eyes trying to calm himself down.

"I gave you a chance at something you really wanted."

This helped Wilson find his words, "Oh sure! Sure! The great Greg House doesn't need to ask. He automatically knows what everyone wants. He didn't need to ask if I even wanted to see her let alone get back with her. He already knows! Are you going to be around to pick out what I want to eat and what I want to wear? If you are going to take over making decisions for me you might as well be making them all."

Lisa leaned forward looking at Wilson with a concerned gaze, "Are you alright?"

"No I am not alright! I am embarrassed and I am pissed! He dragged Sam down here with her convinced I wanted to try again, and I had the wonderful task of explaining that she had torn my heart out therefore I sure as hell didn't want her second chance."

"Third." House said simply.

"Excuse me?" Wilson asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Third chance. Not second." He shrugged his shoulders, "Just saying."

Lisa shook her head, "Stop pushing your luck House."

Wilson threw his hands up, "Third. Second. WHATEVER! Either way you shouldn't have done it. Did you even consider asking me how I felt about her instead of just assuming I wasn't moving on because I missed her? Sure that was it at first. I did miss her. I wanted her, but then I just didn't feel like putting myself out there. I didn't want to get hurt. I don't want Sam."

"You want Cuddy?" House asked.

Lisa bit down on her bottom lip and stared at the floor.

"I...I..." He stammered, "I'm still figuring that out."

House nodded, "Fair enough." He stood up and walked over to Wilson, "Look, I am sorry. I didn't expect you to react so strongly. I honestly thought you would want her back."

"You just don't want me with Cuddy."

House shifted his weight, "I'm not going to deny that."

Wilson shook his head and crossed his arms across his chest, "It was a dirty move."

House nodded, "I know."

Wilson nodded in return.

Lisa sat there, amazed at how quickly Wilson could forgive, "Are you boys done?"

Wilson gave her a shy smile and a small wave, "I'm going back to work." He told her before walking out not bothering to say goodbye to House.

A few moments of silence passed before House looked over at her and spoke up , "I don't want to lose you."

"Good."

"But I don't know if I can stop trying to get you back either."

"Then we have a problem."

He nodded, "I can try to stop trying, but you should know that if you change your mind..."

"I won't." But after a moment she added, "If I do you will be the first to know."

He smirked and accepted that, turning around and leaving her office.


	14. Your Kiss is on my List

**A.N.: Going to have to be honest here friends. I totally forgot about the restraining order. MY BAD XD Though I don't see a restraining order stopping him from doing what he wants anyway, and who can really see Cuddy calling the cops on him? Please forgive my lapse in memory. I will do a quick fix in this chapter and move on. She was going to drop the charges anyway. Might as well drop the restraining order.**

**I would love to own, but I don't. Oh well. Life goes on.**

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><p>The rest of Lisa's day went on undisturbed. She gave her presentation to the donor who promised to give it serious consideration. If she was lucky she would be getting a large check from the man. The rest of her agenda was a lot harder to handle, and it would not fall under the heading of work problems. She needed to deal with the matter of her charges against House. Now that he was back she just didn't feel the same sort of anger she had felt in the beginning. Annoyance, yes. Pain, yes. Anger? She didn't know how to stay mad at him. Not enough to put him jail anyway. She also couldn't see the point of keeping her restraining order. She knew he would keep popping up, and she would continue to not call the cops. There was no point to keeping it. So, she ended her Friday at work around two o'clock. Her trip down to the police station took a lot longer than she would have liked. They questioned her if he was putting pressure on her, but when she wouldn't give them anything they gave up. They told her it was her decision, but to understand that if any of the other present parties wanted to press charges they could. She insisted that she understood and took her leave. From there she went to the realtor she had been dealing with to find a new house. Debbie offered up new offers for her to look at swearing that they should meet her standards. Lisa thanked her, biting on the inside of her mouth to keep from mentioning that the last houses she had been shown were definitely not up to par. Saying that would not get her anywhere.<p>

Her final stop was to pick up Rachel. This was by far her favorite errand. She had not gotten to spend any time with Rachel the night before. She had been asleep by the time she got home. When she had her daughter safely inside the car he little girl immediately started to gab.

"Mommy are we going somewhere special? Do you not have to work? Is Wilson coming?" Rachel asked bouncing in her seat a little.

"Rachel sweetie, please stay still." She kept her eyes on the road but answered her, "We can go to the park if you want. I left early, but Wilson is still working."

"Can't he leave work too?"

"Don't you want to spend time with your mom?" She asked pretending to be hurt.

"I love you mommy!" She exclaimed putting her little hand on Lisa's arm much like her mother did when she was trying to comfort her when she was upset, "I was just being nice. He doesn't have to come. It can just be us!"

Lisa smirked and nodded, "Sounds good to me. I love you too." She pulled into a spot at the park and helped Rachel get unbuckled. When they got out Rachel immediately took off towards the toys. Lisa found a bench and sat down to keep an eye on her daughter.

Rachel climbed her way to the top of the slide and waved energetically to get her mother's attention, "Watch me mommy! Watch me!"

Lisa waved back giving Rachel a big smile, "I'm watching baby. Slide down."

Rachel slid down jumping up to her feet when she reached the end.

Lisa clapped loudly, "Such a big girl! I'm so proud of you!"

Rachel was beaming and ran off to play on the other toys.

She played for about thirty minutes stopping here and there to receive praise from her mother until she tried to get up on the spring loaded pig toy. Apparently a little boy around the age of five wanted to get on it as well, and he decided it was a wise idea to push Rachel before she could get her leg up and over causing her to go crashing onto the ground.

In an instant Lisa was up and running over to her daughter, "Hey! What was that for!" She yelled at the boy having to mentally remind herself that she could not go off on a five year old no matter how much he deserved it.

"I didn't do nothin." The little boy insisted.

Lisa knelt down next to a sobbing Rachel checking for bleeding, "Can you move your arm baby?"

"What is going on here?" A short plump woman asked, obviously the mother of the pig toy terrorist.

"Your son pushed my daughter down is what is going on!" Lisa snapped, but she didn't bother to give the woman her full attention. She was watching Rachel tentatively move her arm and breathed a sigh of relief knowing that it wasn't broken. A large scrape on her elbow seemed like it would be her only war wound.

"She probably just tripped. She looks clumsy." The woman insisted with absolutely no tact. Her statement infuriated Lisa.

She carefully scooped her daughter up into her arms letting her sob into her shoulder. She shot the woman a death glare, "I saw it all happen. Your son is a little menace, though I doubt he knows any better seeing that you have the nerve to go around telling parents that their children look clumsy. Rachel didn't just fall over. She was pushed. Just accept that. I don't care what you do, and don't worry we will not be coming back to this park." She was being a bit harsh she knew, and she was probably overreacting. She didn't care. That child had hurt her daughter, and his mother wouldn't even own up to it. Whatever, they could find a new park to go to. The most important thing was to go home and get Rachel cleaned up.

She walked away from the scene of the crime rubbing Rachel's back and cooing soothing words into her ear. When they were back on the car Rachel simply leaned against the door sniffling looking like someone had stolen her favorite toy. Lisa glanced at her every few seconds out of the corner of her eye as she drove, "Rach.. How do you feel about pizza for supper tonight, huh? We can rent a movie and have pizza. What do you think?"

Rachel sat up a little and looked over at her, "Can we rent the pirate movie?"

Lisa sighed, "I don't know Rachel. I really don't like you watching that cartoon."

"No! The real pirate movie."

Lisa furrowed her brow in confusion, "Pirates of the Caribbean?"

"Yeah!" Rachel confirmed with a smile wiping away her tears with the back of her hand.

"I don't know... That is a little old for you."

"Aunt Katherine let me watch them." She insisted.

"Of course she did." She bit her bottom lip and decided that if there was anything scary she would simply cover the girl's eyes, "Ok. We can get the pirate movie."

Rachel started to bounce in her seat again, "Yay!"

Lisa decided not to fuss about the bouncing at that moment, just happy that her little girl was smiling again. They made a quick stop at the movie store then went home for both of them to take showers and for Lisa to tend to Rachel's wound.

While they were waiting for the pizza to be delivered Lisa sat on the floor in front of the couch with Rachel on her lap and all of the choices of houses spread out on the coffee table in front of them, "Ok Rach. Take a look and tell me which one you like."

"Why are we looking at houses mommy?"

"Well we can't live with Wilson forever, baby." She told her wrapping her arms around the girl's middle.

"Why not? I bet he would let us."

"He probably would, but don't you miss your things? A room of your own?"

"I like sleeping with you mommy!" Rachel insisted, "Can't all my things come here?"

Lisa shook her head, "No, there isn't enough room. That's why we need a house."

"Don't you want to stay?"

"It has been nice, but I miss having our own house. I miss it just being me and you. I don't like to share you." She teased nuzzling her cheek against the top of the girl's head.

Rachel giggled and squirmed a little, "Mommy! You s'posed to share!"

"But I just love you so much!" Lisa declared pretending to bite on the girl's neck.

Rachel shrieked and tried to push her mother's face away, "I'm not for eating!"

Lisa laughed and pulled away to look down on her, "Are you sure?"

Rachel nodded, "Yes. I'm sure."

"Ok I won't eat you then."

Rachel cuddle tighter against her mother and looked over at the houses again, "Alright mommy. I will choose a house if you want. Wilson will come visit, right?"

Lisa nodded, "All the time. I promise."

"What about House? I left him the letter. Is he still sick?"

Lisa bit her lip and rested her chin on top of Rachel's head, "I don't know. I can't make you any promises when it comes to House. You know he only does things when he wants."

"He will come." Rachel insisted, "He will miss me. He is my pirate friend."

"Ok baby." She kissed her cheek and watched as Rachel picked up a picture of a house, "This one."

Lisa shook her head, "No way. It is pink. We are not living in a pink house."

"But we are girls. Girls like pink."

"Sure I like pink, but that doesn't mean I want to live in a house that is pink."

"I like it." Rachel stated simply.

Lisa shook her head and took the picture from her to take a better look. If need be she could always paint it.

The sound of the lock being undone caught her attention. It must have caught Rachel's too because in an instant she was up and running to the door. Wilson barely had a chance to come in the door before she attached herself to his leg beaming up at him, "Wilson! We have pirate movies and pizza is coming and we are picking houses!"

Wilson smiled down on her, "That sounds great! Wait..." He moved over to the couch with Rachel still hanging on to his leg giggling at her new game. He looked down on the coffee table and gave Lisa a confused look, "Cuddy.. I thought you were going to take your time."

Lisa turned to look at him, "We have been here over a month. That is a lot of time."

"If this is about..." He gestured in between them trying to indicate that he was talking about their not-so-relationship without actually having to say it.

Lisa shrugged, "It is just motivation. We got comfortable. Now there are decisions to be made, and we knew this wasn't permanent."

Wilson was looking at her with a mixture of confusion and pain. She knew he wasn't ready for them to go, "Come on Wilson. This has to happen no matter what and it isn't like we are moving out today."

Rachel tugged on his pants leg, "Mommy promised you would come visit."

Wilson bent down and picked her up, "I will. All the time." He caught sight of her bandaged arm, "Rachel what happened!"

Rachel looked at her arm and sighed dramatically, "I was trying to get on the piggy and a boy pushed me down.

Wilson looked to Lisa for further explanation, "She was a victim of a little playground bully. He wanted to play on the piggy toy so he pushed her before she could get on." The doorbell signaled the presence of the pizza delivery man, so Lisa pried herself off the floor to go to the door and pay.

Wilson rubbed Rachel's back a little, "Does it hurt?"

"A little."

"Want me to go find him and yell at him for you?"

Rachel giggled and shook her head, "Mommy already yelled at his mommy."

Wilson smiled proudly, "That is because your mommy knows how to take care of things."

The rest of the night was spent watching Pirates of the Caribbean and eating pizza as promised. After Rachel was put down to sleep Wilson asked to speak to Lisa.

She sat down on the couch facing him, "What's going on?"

Wilson took a deep breath, "I think we should go out on a date."

Lisa laughed a little, "What?"

He moved over and took her hand, "We have been putting so much pressure on this, we didn't even start off right. We haven't been on a date since that God awful art exhibit. We should see if we even want to try at this before we make any big decisions. Lets just go out. No pressure. We can go from there after that."

Lisa thought this over for a minute, "Are you sure?"

Wilson lifted her chin a little so that she would look at him, "Don't over think it. It is a date. We are not committing to anything just yet."

She nodded a little and let a smile spread across her lips, "Ok. Lets go on a date."

Wilson returned the smile and leaned in, "Good." He whispered before capturing her lips. He moved his arms around her waist pulling her into him. Lisa let out a moan of approval and allowed herself to be pulled into him. Her hand moved up to his cheek caressing his jaw as their tongues fought against each other.

They stayed this way for a while just enjoying making out like two sex starved teens. When they finally broke the kiss Lisa stayed cuddled against him resting her head against his shoulder. She chuckled a little and moved her lips to kiss the side of his neck, "Yeah we aren't putting any pressure on the situation at all. There is nothing different or complicated about making out on the couch."

Wilson closed his eyes and chuckled as well, "Probably not my smartest move, but I am not about to complain."

"No complaints here either." She admitted letting her lips move against his neck again initiating yet another round of kissing. While it would not prove to simplify their situation at all it felt damn good. For the moment she wouldn't ask for anything more than that.


	15. Knowing Me, Knowing You

**A.N.: Personal challenge - Get this chapter written before I leave to go out with my friends. Yeah sometimes I have a social life, though believe me it is not often.**

**As a side note, I am not a fan of children in real life. I have no idea how much a three year old should be saying, but for the sake of this fic, Rachel is a very articulate child m'kay?**

**I wonder if I have to keep reminding that I don't own the characters... Well since I am not sure I will just keep doing it.**

**HEY I DON'T OWN THIS!**

**Think that is good enough? Good.**

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><p>Lisa stayed in bed with a sleeping Rachel not bothering to do her morning routine today. There was too much on her mind. It was obvious now that she and Wilson shared a strong attraction. Their hour and a half spent on the couch the night before proved that. She hadn't just kissed someone for that long since she was nineteen. It always led to something more. Last night very well could have. She knew her own feelings on the matter and Wilson's feelings were plain as day pressed up against her leg. They both just didn't push it pausing occasionally to just sit and cuddle. Their interactions earned them both cold showers, but she personally thought it was worth it. It was fun. She enjoyed feeling like a kid again. He made her laugh and she was completely comfortable with him. It was the kind of comfort she never had with House or Lucas. She never felt like she could just sit back and be herself with either of them. With Lucas she was too busy trying to make him feel like she shared his deep feelings and with House she was always on her guard. Their relationship was complicated and almost a constant power play, both trying so hard to keep their shields up while also knowing they had to let each other in. It was exhausting and invigorating at the same time. With Wilson she could just be. That was what happened when you tried to start something with someone you counted as a friend. You knew each other well enough that if you could make the physical transition it could be almost seamless. Well it could be that way if you weren't worried about your ex boyfriend ruining it all.<p>

She shook her head to try and get those thoughts to go away. They were just going on a date. Wilson would decide soon enough. She would find out exactly what they were going to do, but until then she needed to just let it go. The controlling part of her was fighting strong against that idea. She hated not having a plan. She hated not knowing what would come next, but that was a part of life. She had to just relax. There was nothing else to do.

Relieving herself of those troubling thoughts she instead let them wander to her date for tonight. He hadn't given up any ideas for what they were doing, so she could only speculate. Maybe he would keep it simple. Dinner and a movie. He had insisted there would be no pressure. It probably wasn't anything too intricate.

"Mommy!" Rachel pouncing across her abdomen pulled all her attention to the present.

"OOF! Rachel why did you do that?"

Rachel settled herself on top of Lisa's stomach with her head resting on her chest looking up at her face, "I tried just talking to you, but you just kept staring at the ceiling."

Lisa smiled a little, "So sorry. I was thinking."

"Well I'm hungry." Rachel said matter of factly.

"Then what do you say?"

Rachel took a deep breath then recited, "May I please have some breakfast?"

Lisa nodded, "Yes you may. Come on." She motioned for Rachel to get up and go into the kitchen.

Wilson had left a note explaining that he had been called in for a patient, but he would be home at five by the latest. He also instructed that she dress semi formal and that they would be leaving by six.

Lisa smiled and folded the note up tucking it away in the pocket of her robe.

Her morning was spent with Rachel playing games and watching the second Pirates of the Caribbean movie. She also took some time to take a better look at the houses. She settled on two possibilities and made a mental note to set up appointments with the realtor to view them.

At four thirty she brought Rachel to Marina's. She explained to the nanny that it would be eleven at the latest before she would come and pick up the little girl.

When she got back to Wilson's she barricaded herself in the guest bedroom. She took a quick shower then went about the task of figuring out what exactly would be semi formal to wear. After much debate she chose a red dress with spaghetti straps and a scoop neck. The material was thin and simply fell over her curves outlining them nicely and falling loose down to her knees. She paired it with strappy red heels. She pulled her hair into a loose bun letting a few curls fall loose onto her neck and shoulders. She applied light make up then hurriedly grabbed up her clutch. It was ten to six, and she didn't like to push it.

When she stepped out of the bedroom she saw Wilson standing in the living room dressed in black pants and a silver polo. It looked nice but not too nice. She suddenly felt overdressed, but the way Wilson looked at her quickly put her mind at ease. He was drinking her in with his eyes. It made her feel sexy and put a sly smile on her face. No matter how much she protested, she had always liked being appreciated physically. She worked hard to keep her body up. Being looked at the way she was right now let her know that her hard work had payed off. She walked over to him and kissed his cheek lightly, "You had better pick your jaw up off the floor if you plan on leaving on time."

"You.. Ah.. You look great." He stammered and blushed violently. He was so cute when he was nervous.

She looped her arm through his and smiled up at him, "Thank you. You look good too. Dressy casual. Its nice to see you out of a tie." They started walking out and she had to ask, "Where are we going?"

He smirked mischievously and shook his head, "You'll see."

She rolled her eyes, "Come on. Why can't you just tell me?"

He laughed and opened the door of his car for her, "Just wait and see. It won't kill you not to know every detail ahead of time. Just let yourself be surprised."

She huffed a little and got into the car, "Its just a question. It would be a lot more simple to just answer me." She insisted.

Wilson continued to laugh at her as he pulled away from the curb and started towards their destination. He reached over and took her hand, "Relax Cuddy. No pressure. I just want to surprise you."

Lisa rolled her eyes but smiled, "I know. I guess I am just not a huge fan of surprises."

"Surprises can be good. Just let it be good."

She nodded and gave his hand a squeeze, "Ok."

Another twenty minutes and they were being seated at a restaurant. She smiled and looked out at the couples dancing not twenty feet away from their table, "This was your surprise? You want to dance?"

He pulled out her chair for her then took his own, "Well you seemed to enjoy yourself that one day at home. I figured you might like to actually go out."

Lisa was beaming now and nodded, "I love to dance. I used to go out all the time when I was in college. I had some good times."

"Does this have anything to do with partypants?" He pried with a sly smile.

She instantly blushed and shook her head, "He told you about my password?"

Wilson nodded, "What is it?"

Lisa waited until they put in their orders with the waiter who had walked up to the table before she leaned in and explained, "It was an ongoing joke when I was in Med school. I got a little tipsy then proceeded to discard my clothes in favor of putting on some guys white button down shirt, sunglasses, and a pair of socks so that I could slide around to the beat of Old Time Rock and Roll to recreate the scene from Risky Business. I ended up leaving my pants at the guy's apartment only managing to grab my sweater and shoes. The next party he showed up with them in tow telling me I had forgotten my party pants. It was lame, so of course no one ever forgot it. I was mortified at the time, but now I think its just funny. I don't know if House figured out my password because he knows the story somehow, or if he just got lucky" She shrugged a little and sat back in her chair, "Either way I have been changing my password every two weeks since."

He laughed a little at her story and shook his head, "Changing your password so often is probably a good idea. Or.. Well it was." He cleared his throat and quickly changed the subject, "I would have liked to have seen you do that though. I don't think I've ever even seen you that drunk."

She shook her head and smirked, "No you haven't for that very reason. I get a little too loose. I avoid it so that I don't end up making an ass out of myself."

He shrugged, "You can still have fun."

She nodded, "Well I know that, but getting plastered isn't always fun. You should know that. If I remember right the last time you got really drunk you left your party pants at your house." She raised an eyebrow and gave him the I GOT YOU look.

He blushed furiously and rubbed the back of his neck, "Ok.. Yeah maybe getting plastered isn't the best idea." He conceeded.

She chuckled and patted his arm, "Its ok Wilson. We all have our moments."

They ate the their meal in companionable conversation before Lisa finally pulled him up off of his chair and dragged him out onto the floor.

At first they just swayed to a slow song, her head on his shoulder and his arms around her waist, but the next song required a lot more movement.

Lisa looked up at him questioningly, "Can you salsa?"

He scoffed, "Can I salsa?" He immediately moved his one arm to take her hand while the other stayed around her waist. He guided her through the steps effortlessly. She laughed as he spun her and moved his hips with absolute ease. She was impressed. Wilson obviously had a lot more secrets than she thought. He ended it by dipping her to the floor and hitching her leg up on his hip. She was breathless and staring up into his eyes with a brilliant smile playing on her lips. When her brought her up right again she was laughing again, "Where did all that come from?" She insisted.

He smiled and started dancing again when the music started, "I had lessons when I was in college. My mom insisted that it was the only way to really woo a woman. I think she just wanted me to be able to dance with her."

Lisa bit her bottom lip and shook her head, "I need to thank your mother. You can really dance."

They danced on until Lisa's feet were killing her and Wilson's back was starting to ache. Back inside the car he found himself laughing, "I think we are getting too old for things like this."

"Shut your mouth James Wilson! I am not old, and neither are you."

He put up one hand indicating that he would not fight her on it.

When they picked up Rachel she was already sleeping and continued in that way as she was transported in and out of the car. Once she was settled Lisa returned to the living room to bid her date goodnight.

She walked up to him and gave him a simple peck on the lips, "Thank you for tonight. I had so much fun."

He wrapped his arms around her and nodded, "I did too."

"Would you be willing to do it again?" She asked cautiously.

Wilson smiled, "I would. Would you?"

She nodded quickly, "Definitely."

Wilson took a deep breath then let it out with a little laugh, "Alright. Good... Great."

Lisa leaned up and stole one more kiss, "Yeah. Great. Good night James."

He kissed her forehead then released her from his grasp, "Good night Lisa."

Lisa walked into the bedroom and shut the door behind her. She wasn't sure if they were any closer to knowing if they would continue, but it was good to know that for now they were willing to give it a shot. There was still House to contend with, but that was a task for another day. For tonight she prefered to relive dancing the night away with James Wilson.


	16. Good Morning Beautiful

**A.N.: I AM SICK -.- Got to come home early from work, but my body it is no fun since my body is in revolt. Did you need to know that? Not really, but if you haven't noticed I enjoy sharing.**

**And for those of you wondering why House didn't show up to ruin the night, I figure he knows a lot less about what is going on in Cuddy and Wilson's life now that he doesn't see them at work as much. That is how I figure it. We can agree to disagree if it is a problem xD**

**I don't own. If I did House and Cuddy would be on that generic beach together preferably nude. Just sayin.**

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><p>Lisa Cuddy woke up Sunday morning with a smile on her face. Her weekend had been pretty fantastic so far, minus Rachel's run in with the bully of course. It amazed her how easily things could just fall into their right places. Her days didn't have to be so stressful. She didn't have to be constantly worried and on edge. Running the hospital was still a challenge, but it was a lot easier now that she was not keeping a constant eye on House. Though, if she was to be honest she missed his presence. While he was a strain on her day, he was often times a comic relief as well. Before he was ever a lover he was a friend. She missed her friend in her life.<p>

She shook her head and sat up, letting herself lean against the headboard. It was much to easy for her thoughts to go from her situation with Wilson to her situation with House. Would it always be this way? If she and Wilson really did make a future of their relationship would she always be thinking of House right along side her thoughts of Wilson? She had never believed that there was only one person in your life to love. That was too depressing. What if that person died? Would you be doomed to a life without love because fate dealt your loved one a bad hand? She refused to believe life could be so cruel, but at the same time she wondered if she had the capacity to love two men at once. They were both worthy of her love in different ways. House, the brilliant diagnostician with his guarded heart and witty humor. Wilson, the tender hearted oncologist with his endless capacity for love and his caring soul. Both men adored by her daughter. Both men adored by her, but adoration and love were not the same thing. She and Wilson stood a good chance for love. She could feel it. It would be so easy to let herself fall for him. If he gave them the chance she could see her future, and it would be filled with weekends just like the one they were having right now. She gave a side glance to her sleeping daughter and she knew that in this future she was picturing Rachel was safe and unconditionally loved. Wilson would without a doubt stand at her side and be that with her. She knew it. She never could see that with House. He would play with her, maybe while she was still young. He had certainly grown fond of her, but could he have truly loved her and been open and honest with that love? She had her doubts. She despised the fact that when she gave it honest thought it seemed like being with Wilson was simply taking the easy way out. Being with House would forever be a constant challenge. She would always worry. She would always fear the day he would mess things up or she would push too hard and he would walk away. She couldn't see herself having to worry all that much with Wilson. She might wonder about his fidelity, but even then until he actually hurt her in that way, she found herself giving him the benefit of the doubt. Why should she be jaded when she wasn't the one he cheated on? On top of that she maintained the belief that he had grown up. He had stopped running around and falling in love with every woman who needed a helping hand. So would choosing to be with him over giving House another chance just be her being lazy? No. She refused to believe that. Where was it written that relationships were supposed to be hard? Life in general was hard, why should she be choosing something just because it was more challenging? It certainly didn't make it mean more than anything else. Plus, even if things worked out with Wilson that did not by any stretch of the imagination mean that House would not stop making her life challenging. Even if he would never be back at PPTH he was Wilson's best friend. He would never be going anywhere, and she would never want him to. They needed each other.

Lisa decided to give up her train of thought. It was too early in the morning for that. A glance at the clock told her that it would be another thirty minutes before Rachel would be up. It also told her that she had slept in yet again. She would have to kick herself back into her regular routine. Just because her world had gotten a little off kilter didn't mean that she should stop her morning rituals. After all she had a figure to maintain.

She carefully slipped out of the bedroom and glanced towards the front of the loft. Wilson was not up yet. For moment this disappointed her, but the disappointment slipped away and a sly smile slid onto her lips.

She padded down the hall in her black pajama pants, pink tank top, and bare feet trying not to make too much noise just in case it would wake anyone up. As quiet as possible she opened the door to Wilson's bedroom and slipped in. She was fairly sure that he did not sleep in the nude so she saw no issue with crawling across his bed and lying down next to him almost nose to nose the way she had woken up to Rachel the morning of her first kiss with Wilson. She wasn't sure what brought on the urge to be playful with him this morning, but she didn't fight it. She just waited to see how long it would be before her unusually close proximity would bring him out of his dreams.

She didn't have to wait long. Wilson's eyes fluttered open after only a few minutes, but he quickly jumped back almost falling off the edge of the bed in the process. Lisa was thrown into a laughing fit and propped herself up on her elbow to look down on him, "Well your morning breath is nothing to brag about either."

Wilson shook his head and tried to calm himself with deep breaths, "Excuse me for being a little alarmed. I most definitely did not fall asleep with you in my bed let alone inches away from my face."

Lisa bit down on her bottom lip trying to look innocent, "Can't a girl just want to tell you good morning?"

Wilson mimicked her by propping himself up on his elbow as well and shooting her an incredulous look, "I think your only goal was to try and make me wet myself not to tell me good morning."

"I multitask."

He chuckled a little and layed back down reaching out to pull her against him. She complied willingly settling herself against him with her head up on his chest. She tilted her head up so that she could look at him, "Good morning."

He rolled his eyes and leaned down so that he could kiss her forehead, "Good morning." He moved his hand up to run his fingers through her hair, "You know, even though you scared me a little, it was nice to wake up to you in my bed."

"Even if it wasn't because you got laid last night?"

"Even if it wasn't because I got laid. Though if you are willing to rectify that by all means be my guest."

She shot him a mischievous smile, "I think it is something worth looking in to ."

His bushy eyebrows shot up in surprise, "Really?"

She laughed a little, "Did you think all this was leading no where? Eventually I think we would certainly end up in bed." She replied simply. She enjoyed sex. She had no problem talking about it.

"I.. I.. I don't know what I was supposed to think." He stammered.

She moved a bit so that she would be able to lean up and capture his lips with hers. His arms automatically drew her tighter against him and she found herself moving to basically be laying on top of him, "What are you thinking now?" She mumbled into the kiss. His only answer was to plant her hands firmly on her ass causing her to smile against his lips before plunging her tongue into his mouth. His hands wandered from her ass up her shirt to feel her bare back while hers focused on rubbing the back of his neck and caressing his jaw bone.

A call from outside the room broke them up quickly. Rachel was calling for her mother, and that was definitely a good reason to break up their little moment. She sighed and planted a chaste kiss on his lips before removing herself from on top of him and out of his bed. He watched her go with a mixture of lust and disappointment, "I will definitely think on that."

She threw a smile at him over her shoulder before opening the door and walking out, "If you think on it for longer than thirty minutes I am calling in a search party."

He flushed at what she had implied and shook his head. He was in desperate need of a shower.

Lisa walked into the living room and scooped Rachel up into her arms from behind causing the little girl to shriek in surprise. She was on a roll for scaring people that morning, "Hey baby girl! Looking for me?"

She hugged her mother's neck and placed a kiss on her cheek, "Yes I was! Where were you?"

"I was talking to Wilson in his room. Are you hungry?" When she received a nod confirming that Lisa set the girl down and began to make breakfast for the three of them.

After breakfast they all settled down around the coffee table to play a few games of Candy Land.

When Rachel ended up winning each time Wilson pretended to be upset crossing his arms over his chest, "I let you win."

Rachel giggled and poked his side, "Nu uh! I won fair and square."

Lisa grinned down on her daughter, "Tell him not to be a sore loser."

"Yeah don't be a sore loser, Wilson." She stuck her tongue out and scooted closer to her mother.

Wilson pretended to look shocked, "I am not a sore loser! Now you are going to get it!" He declared before reaching out and grabbing Rachel tickling her sides mercilessly.

The little girl squealed and writhed under his touch laughing loudly, "No! No Wilson stop! Mommy save me!"

Lisa reached over and began to tickle Wilson's sides causing him to squirm and try to move away, "Mommy will make him pay Rachel!"

The door bell chimed overhead and Wilson crawled away from both mother and daughter, "Saved by the bell." He said with a relieved sigh.

Lisa rolled her eyes and helped Rachel sit back up against the couch, "Don't worry, Rachel. He won't get away that easy."

Rachel nodded quickly in agreement and threw her arms up over her head, "Yeah we are gunna get him back!"

Wilson just chuckled at their comments and walked over to open the door. He was a bit surprised to see his best friend standing there when it wasn't even noon yet, "House. What's up?" He inquired curiously.

House shrugged and looked over his shoulder, "Just out on my bike, thought I would drop by. Are you busy?"

Wilson raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms over his chest, "Are you aware that it is only ten o'clock?"

"Is it really? Damn! I just assumed that every clock I own was set to the wrong time to throw me off."

Wilson ignored that, "Seriously, House what are you doing?"

House pretended to be hurt, "Can't a guy just drop by to see his friend in the morning without an ulterior motive? You wound me, Wilson. Hurts me right here." He stated placing his hand over the right side of his chest.

"That is not where your heart is."

"I know, but for some reason my right peck hurts. Think I have something wrong with me?"

"Oh there is something wrong with you alright."

"You are so rude, Jimmy. Aren't you going to invite me in?" Without further warning he walked in and made his way into the living room.

The sound of cane against wood was something that Rachel recognized. She immediately popped up and ran over to House hugging onto his leg, "House! You are ok! Did you come to see me? Did you miss me? I missed you! Did you get my letter?" She was throwing rapid fire questions at him, the affection she was showing him throwing him off way more than the questions.

He reached down and patted the top of her head, "I did get your letter, did your mom tell you she made me walk the plank." He was mostly just trying to avoid answering the 'do you miss me' and the 'did you come to see me' questions. In truth, he had missed her, but he was not about to admit to that.

Lisa pulled herself up off the floor and walked over to meet the group that had now formed in the middle of the living room.

Rachel looked up at her, still refusing to let go of House as if she was afraid he would disappear, "Did you really mommy?"

Lisa shook her head and crossed her arms over her chest, "No, he is lying. I saved him from walking the plank." She was, of course, referring to the charges she dropped.

House smirked, "Drop the charges then? Does that mean YOU have missed me?" He asked giving her a once over with his eyes.

Before Lisa could answer Wilson moved to her side and let his arm wrap around her waist, "It means she is a better person than you. How can she have missed you? She just saw you two days ago."

House's body visibly stiffened at the public display of affection. He took the gesture as his friend's way of telling him he had given his situation with Cuddy thought and he was not backing down. He was unsure of how to respond, but luckily Rachel gave him an out, "Do you want to play a game with us?"

Lisa smiled at her daughter happy that the awkward moment had been avoided, "I am a bit done out on Candy Land."

Rachel, however, was not about to give up on her pursuit of a game with her pirate friend, "What about shutes and ladders?"

House offered the girl a small smile but shook his head, "Not today kid, but..." He looked up at Lisa and Wilson before looking down again, "If it is ok with your mom how about you and I get ice cream sometime soon?"

Rachel beamed up at him then turned hopeful eyes on Lisa.

This move by House was not something she had been expecting. He had shown very little interest in her daughter when they were together. There was a good chance that this was just a ploy to get back in her good graces, but the part of her that hoped for all the good hat he could be wanted to believe that it was merely a show of good faith. Maybe House wanted to play nice. After all, he had told her that he would try to just be her friend. The cynical side of her was louder, but in the end she decided one outing would not hurt, "I think that would be fine."

House nodded his head and patted Rachel's head again, "Excellent! Now I really was just popping in to say hi. I will let you know when I am available to get ice cream." And with that he pried the girl off his leg then made his quick exit.

Rachel was dancing around excitedly, happy to have her friend back, while Lisa was giving Wilson a wary look, "I'm not sure how to take what just happened."

Wilson shrugged a little and leaned in to kiss her temple, "I'm not really sure. It could either be really good or really bad. Only time will tell."

"Thank you very much for your not so reassuring cliches."

Wilson chuckled and moved a little to be behind her wrapping his arms around her waist and resting his chin on her shoulder, "Always happy to help."

Lisa grinned and placed her hands over his, "So putting your arm around me in front of him... Did you make up your mind?"

Wilson took a deep breath and hugged her tighter, "I made up my mind to try to have it all, my best friend and my relationship with you. I'm not sure how it will work, but it is worth a try."

"I think so too." She responded quietly.

Rachel, pouncing on yet another sweet moment, bounded up to them and asked, "Is it lunch time yet?"


	17. Fade to Black

**A.N.: THIS IS THE FIRST TIME I HAVE TOUCHED MY LAPTOP IN DAYS! Did you miss me? Of course you did. You love me, even if you don't realize it yet.**

**In reply to a review that said there should be less House, I agree. It would be easier to picture Wilson/Cuddy with less House, but the problem there is that I find it hard to imagine this with less House. The whole point is the struggle of them trying to be together against the force that is Gregory House. I would have to have him take a convenient vacation to generic island again if I wanted less of him. Wilson is his best friend and Cuddy is his love. He won't just disappear. I apologize if that conflicts with anyone trying to grasp the Wuddy romance, but I am hoping it will be easier to see as time marches on.**

**A fair warning, I have a Huddy fic rolling around in my brain. I think I am going to try and manage it along side Maybe I'm Amazed. I have seen people juggle as many as five fics at a time. I think I can handle two.**

**Anyway, on with the show. I don't own. You know that don't you?**

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><p>Monday brought on Lisa's regular routine. Work went easy enough. Her only real surprise had been House calling to ask if he could take Rachel out for ice cream on Tuesday. She had honestly thought that he would try to play off his offer to her daughter. Maybe she was also wishing he would just play it off. His presence in her daughter's life was something she had always been wary of even back when they were dating. Especially back when they were dating. Now that they were... whatever it was that they were it seemed to be even more complicated. Probably because she couldn't define it. She could not bring herself to consider them friends. He hadn't done anything to deserve her friendship. Then again, when had he ever? He had always been harsh, cruel at times. Should she allow him to be around Rachel? A better question would be could she live with herself if she kept him from Rachel when it was so obvious that the little girl adored him. If he was willing then who was she to deny her daughter of a possible friend. If he messed it up she would just have to put her foot down and keep him away. For what seemed like the millionth time in over a week she wished that things would just be simple.<p>

Her thoughtful frown was quickly replaced with a smile when, after knocking, Wilson walked into her office. She had seen him that morning, but she still found herself taking in his appearance. Ever the professional he was clad in khaki pants, a white button down shirt, a red tie, and his white lab coat. Somewhere in the back of her mind she imagined slowly slipping that lab coat off his shoulders while running kisses along his jaw. She quickly shook her head and sat back a little trying to rid herself of the image and the feeling that began to churn in the pit of her stomach. She had obviously been without sex for much too long.

Trying to play off the head shake she gestured to a chair in front of her desk, "To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?" She asked him curiously. It was not uncommon for him to come for a visit, but usually he at least brought a file along with him as a reason. His hands were empty.

Wilson made his way over to the chair she indicated and offered her a broad smile. He had not missed the way her eyes had roved over him when he came in, but he couldn't deny that his eyes had taken in quite a bit as well. Her shirt was cut low revealing one of the best parts of her. He may not voice his appreciation for her assets, but he was still a man. He did in fact have a deep appreciation for every bit of her that was there to be offered, "House called me. He told me he asked you if he could take Rachel out. He said you said yes. I wanted to come and see how you really felt about that situation. You looked a little... Concerned whenever he brought it up."

Lisa was not surprised in the least that he had picked up on her concern. She hadn't exactly hidden it, and really who could blame her? House wasn't known for his selflessness, "I am definitely concerned, but Rachel loves him. I owe it to her to give him a chance. Maybe he will surprise me."

Wilson nodded and leaned back in his chair, "I am sure that he just wants to get back in a good place with everyone. Things are still rocky between the two of you. Being there for Rachel is a really good place to start."

She raised an eyebrow and finally asked the obvious, "Sure, but is he trying to get back to a good place as a friend or as more than that?"

He shrugged a little, "There is no way to tell right now. I would like to hope that he would respect our decision to try to be a couple, but that I am an optimist by nature." His smile was playful as he watched her. He didn't want her to worry about what she couldn't control. There was nothing they could do if he was in fact trying to get back in her good graces as a lover and not ust as a friend. They would just have to deal with that as it came.

She laughed at that and shook her head, "You are definitely being an optimist when it comes to that. House has never respected anything you or I have done. Why would he start now that it is something that I highly doubt he will ever really agree with? I just hope he doesn't try to use her. She doesn't deserve that." Her main concern was and always would be for her daughter. She and Wilson could deal with House when it came to their relationship, but Rachel wouldn't know any better. All she would see was her friend who showed her the pirate program. Not the man trying to manipulate her to help him get back into her mother's life.

Wilson got up from his chair and went over to her. Gently he took her arm and pulled her up. She obviously knew his intentions because she easily slid into his arms accepting the hug he was offering, "He won't hurt Rachel. I would bet money on it. He may be manipulative, but he would never hurt a child."

Lisa decided not to point out that he could have very well hurt Rachel when he drove his car into her house, but she didn't. Instead she just savored the feeling of being in his arms. This was something she never had in House. Wilson gave his affections with great ease. He gave comfort as if it was nothing. She knew she could always find her way into his arms if she really needed it. It was so simple, but sometimes a hug could mean more than anything else. Gestures were important.

After a few minutes she pulled herself out of his arms, "I hope you are right." She glanced at her clock then started a bit when she saw the time, "I have to go! Don't forget to pick up Rachel please. I should be done looking at the houses around seven." She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before running to grab her jacket.

Wilson chuckled and watched as she basically ran out of the office. He didn't bother calling after her that he would never forget to pick up Rachel. She knew it.

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><p>In her car Lisa carefully multitasked between putting on her lipstick in the overhead mirror and giving her assistant last minute instructions on the speaker phone. Her light was green. She wasn't in the wrong, but maybe if she had been paying a bit more attention to the road she might have seen the silver Denali run the red light and plow into her side. Maybe she would have swerved. Maybe she wouldn't have been hit at all or maybe the back of the car would have taken the impact. There were a ton of possibilities, but none that mattered. She didn't see. She didn't swerve. The large SUV slammed into the passenger side of her car pushing the Sedan into the front end of the Malibu in the next lane. The sound of metal crushing metal was the only thing she could hear. Flashes of her life passed before her eyes. She had always thought that the idea that your life passed before your eyes before you died was a lie, but she could now testify to the fact. She felt pain, but she couldn't pin point where it was coming from. She hurt everywhere. Finally, though, she didn't have to worry about the pain. She felt nothing. She heard nothing. She saw nothing. Everything faded to black.<p>

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><p>A knock on Wilson's door interrupted his consult, "One moment please." He told his patient before getting up to answer the door. Thirteen was standing in front of him scrubs covered in blood, "Wilson..." She was trying to find the words, but he cut her off.<p>

"Dr. Hadley you are soaked with blood. What the hell is going on? I have a patient."

Thirteen cleared her throat and forced herself to just say it, "Dr. Cuddy is in the ER. She was in a car wreck. She is unconscious and you are her proxy. We need you."

Wilson stood there in complete shock trying to take in what she had just said. He couldn't even move. Finally he found his voice, "That's... That's her blood?" He asked pointing to her scrubs.

"Yes, Wilson please we need you."

That prompted him. He needed to go. Lisa needed him. He quickly made his excuses to his patient before running off with Thirteen to the ER.

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><p><strong>A.N.: IT IS NOT REALLY A FIC TILL SOMEONE GETS HURT RIGHT? Don't hurt me people. This has a reason, I promise.<strong>


	18. Let Me Let Go

**A.N.: Just so you all know, this was incredibly hard to write. I put it off for days. Upsetting Wilson makes me feel like a bad person. Upsetting Wilson is like kicking a puppy. You just shouldn't do it. And hurt House? Yeah that sucks too. Anyway just kind of go with me on this.**

**Pretty pretty please keep in mind that I am not a doctor. My limited medical knowledge comes from my medical show fetish, the internet, and working in the admitting department of a hospital. I do not claim to understand everything, but I am going to try my best.**

**I do not claim ownership to any of these characters except Katherine.**

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><p>Two days. Two days since Lisa Cuddy had been involved in a motor vehicle accident. Wilson didn't know what to do with himself. When he was called down to the Emergency Room to act as proxy he was in no way ready for what he was being told. On the outside Cuddy looked like shit, but she would be ok. Three broken ribs, one broken leg, multiple lacerations throughout her body, some much deeper and serious than others, as well as a broken nose from impact with the airbag. The real problem was in her brain. After they had sufficiently stopped the bleeding and temporarily set her broken bones she was rushed to radiology for a round of xrays, an MRI, and a CT scan. The CT revealed an intracranial hemorrhage due to head trauma. The blood had built up and was now increasing her intercranial pressure. Thirteen was requiring he okay a craniotomy to relieve the pressure from her brain and insert a temporary shunt to be sure that it would not rise up again. The procedure had been a success, but Cuddy had fallen into a coma. If they were lucky she would wake. He knew that. This was fairly common, but as one day slipped by and then two, his worries increased.<p>

He had only left her bedside in the ICU to shower and eat. Katherine had been by multiple times, but they both agreed to hold off on telling Arlene and Julie till they knew more about her condition. It was a judgment call that they hoped that Cuddy, should she wake, would agree with.

Katherine had been keeping Rachel at night and dropping her off to Marina during the day. Katherine explained to her that her mother had gotten in an accident, but they could not visit her just yet. They had to lot mommy rest. Rachel was unhappy about it and would not let anyone forget it. She knew there was something more wrong than everyone was leting on. She wanted her mother and she wanted her now. She spent her days pouting, crying, and being altogether unsavory.

After a long night with the very unhappy Rachel, Katherine returned to the hospital and made her way up to the ICU to see Cuddy and Wilson. She opened the door and moved over to shake Wilson's shoulder and wake him from his nap, "We have go to let Rachel come see Lisa. She is losing her mind, and I am about to lose mine from all the crying and whining. She needs her mother."

Wilson ran his hand over his face and sighed, "Her mother is currently in a coma and covered in bruises and lacerations. We can not let her see this. It is what a child's nightmare is made of." Glancing over at Cuddy he was fairly sure that this was what his nightmares were made of too,

Katherine shook her head, "She just needs to see that she is alright."

Wilson narrowed his eyes and stood up quickly, "SHE IS NOT ALRIGHT!" He felt like taking her shoulders and shaking some sense into her, "Look at her. Every hour that passes lessens the chance that she will ever even wake up, and it heightens the chance that if she does, she will wake up with brain damage. It is up to her body to let her come out of this, and my guess is that right now her body is so fucking tired it can't get up the strength to fight. This is a god damn waiting game and you know it, so do not consider bringing that child in here and lying to her. We don't know what is going to happen. She may be unhappy right now, but I could no live with myself if I let you bring that child in here to stare at her comatose mother and have us lie and say she will be just fine. Telling her she needs her rest is not a lie. Lets keep it at that."

Katherine stared in bewilderment at Wilson. His outburst was unexpected to say the least. He was usually so calm, but she could see now that this was breaking him, "I'm a doctor too, you know, but that is my best friend right there. I refuse to think tha she might not be ok."

"People die, Katherine. Bad things happen. You should face that now." Wilson looked absolutely out of it. She felt tired for him.

Katherine took hold of his arm and forced him to look at her, "Wilson, she ain't Amber. She could be ok. Don't resign yourself to all the bad things yet."

Wilson didn't know what to say to that. He was most definitely remembering Amber. He had loved her with all his heart. It had nearly killed him to hold her as she died. He couldn't do that with Cuddy. He couldn't go through that again, but he also couldn't leave her alone. He had to be here for her. If she did wake up she had to know that he cared and that she was never for a moment alone. So, he would torture himself. He would listen to her steady heart beat and monitor her brain waves waiting for either a miricle or a tragedy.

He pulled away from her and sat back down, "Either way I don't want Rachel here. Not yet."

Katherine sighed a litle, "Fine, but we are revisiting this tomorrow."

Wilson rolled his eyes and looked away from her, "Something to look forward to then."

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><p>When House couldn't get ahold of Cuddy to arrange picking up Rachel he knew something was up. One trip to visit Cuddy's assistant told him more than he really wanted to know. He could find Dr. Cuddy in the ICU. He could have went to see her. He should have went to see her, but he decided to highjack a computer and hack into her electronic chart instead. What he found almost made him physically ill. She was in a coma. well, at least she was stable. They were just waiting it out now. He snuck out of the office that he had broken in to deciding that he would come back the next day to see if she had come out of it.<p>

His trip the next day did not show any improvment from Cuddy. Two days in a coma. He considered going up to see her. On one hand his curiousity to see how she looked tugged at him, but on another he wasn't sure he could handle seeing her that way. Lisa Cuddy should never be broken. He couldn't imagine a world without her, and it brought him back to when they thought she had cancer. He couldn't handle it. Maybe if he just glanced at her... He wouldn't have to stay. Hell, she wouldn't even know he had been there. He could just take the edge off his curiousity and move on.

What he saw when he went to the ICU hurt him more than he ever could have imagined. Cuddy looked like shit, but he had expected that. Seeing Wilson sitting there holding her hand and talking to her as if she was awake to hear... That he had not been prepared for. He knew Wilson had to be in pain. Seeing Cuddy like that reminded House of Amber, so he couldn't even begin to imagine what Wilson was feeling, but even through his pain he was there for her. He was not being selfish. He was there for her despite how much it had to be hurting him. House couldn't do that. He could not deal with his pain let alone put it aside for others. Wilson care about her in a way that House never could. That burned him to his very core. He loved Cuddy. He knew that, but he could see now that in the end that wasn't enough. He couldn't be that man for her. He couldn't be the self sacrificing hand holder. Wilson was, and in that moment he knew that if this was what Cuddy really needed he loved her enough to let her have it. It was a little ironic that now that they were no longer together he could really let her happiness come first. It might have had to do with the fact that logically he knew that she had already let him go, but it was still significant to him.

So with all that in mind he left his friends in the ICU vowing to call Wilson later and check up on them both.


	19. Praying for Daylight

**A.N.: I am sorry you guys thought I had given up on this fic. Truth is that writing Huddy was just way easier than writing this, but I am not giving up! So fear not friends. It may come in smaller spurts because of where I have them in the plot, but it will still come.**

**I do not own.**

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><p>Three days. The fact that Cuddy had not woken up was disheartening. If she didn't wake up before the end of the day there was a fairly good chance she never would. Wilson had fought with Katherine yet again about whether or not to bring Rachel. The little girl was nearing hysterics. She was an intelligent kid. She was well aware that her aunt and Marina were holding back on her, and the fact that Wilson had not come to see her was a big red flag. Things were not right with her mommy. Wilson agreed that if by tomorrow Cuddy had not woken up Rachel could come by and see her. They would also have to break down and call Cuddy's family. It did not look promising.<p>

After Katherine left Wilson drew the blinds and pulled the chair he had been occupying closer to Cuddy. He took up her hand once again and gave it a kiss, "Cuddy you have got to get this together. We need you. Rachel needs you. She knows something is up. What is going to happen to her if you don't pull through? The hospital needs you. The nurses are whispering about you and the board is getting restless. They are talking about a replacement for you. Not a temporary replacement. A real replacement. As if you won't pull through. You know how they are. They always assume he worst." He pressed his forehead against her fingers, "Katherine thinks I am assuming the worst too, and I guess I am. I wasn't prepared to lose Amber. I had held out hope, and in the end it had all been for nothing. You have been a constant in my life forever. You are my friend, but now it is so much more than just that." Tears began to fall down his cheeks, but he kept on talking, "We were just beginning this whole thing. I should have decided to pursue you sooner. Now it just feels like I was too late. This is why you need to wake up. I need you to wake up. I need you to prove me wrong. I need you." He was sobbing now in the privacy of the dark ICU room thankful for the blinds. He ended up crying himself to sleep bent over the bed that way holding on to her hand.

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><p>Lisa Cuddy had heard voices. Familiar voices. She couldn't place them, but the sounds were comforting. She had been unable to find her way out of the fog of her subconcious. It was annoying feeling of being lost and unsure of which way to turn next. She had no idea how long she had been like that, but she happy couldn't even begin to describe how she felt when the fog finally lifted itself completely. Her sense of smell was the first thing to come to her. She knew the smell well. She was in her hospital. Sterile. Clean. Familiar. The next thing she noticed was that her mouth was impossibly dry to the point of being almost painfully uncomfortable. Pain. The pain of dry mouth was immediately lost behind the different shooting pains radiating throughout her body. It was not unbearable, but it was still something she could no ignore. She forced herself to open her eyes. She shut them against the light then slowly let herself adjust to it by slowly opening her eyelids. When she was used to it she looked around. She had been right. She was in a hospital room. Specifically she was in an ICU room surrounded by monitors. Looking down her body she saw a large cast on her leg, multiple scars covering her arms and around her middle she could feel the wrapping holding her ribs in place. What the hell had happened?<p>

Finally her eyes rested on Wilson passed out on a small portion of her bed holding her hand. He would have the answers. She bit down on her bottom lip and forced her mind to send the message to squeeze Wilson's hand. Everything was so slow to react. If that didn't clear up soon she was going to be very annoyed.

Wilson felt pressure against his hand rousing him from his nap. He sat up a little and looked at it trying to determine the origin. All he saw was Cuddy's hand... Cuddy. His head shot up and he found himself staring into Cuddy's confused grey eyes. He immediately stood up and placed a hand on either side of her face, "Oh thank God!" He leaned in and kissed her lips gently, "Cuddy can you talk?"

She wanted to sigh. She didn't know if she could talk. She had no idea how long she had been out for, but her mouth was too damn dry to even begin to consider talking. She shook her head ever so slightly from side to side painfully aware of the dull ache when she moved it.

Wilson's face fell then he settled down and considered it, "Is it because your mouth is dry?"

Not wanting to shake her head again she merely raised her hand a litle to give him a thumbs up in confirmation.

He scrambled to get her a cup of water then returned to her side to help her drink.

She drank the water greedily savoring the way it felt in her mouth and going down her throat. When she had finished Wilson took it away. She swallowed hard and opened her mouth trying to find her voice, "What happened?" She rasped out.

Wilson had never been so thankful to hear her voice even if it was a litle rough from lack of use, "You were in a car wreck. Hit from the side then pushed into another car. Broken leg. Broken Ribs. Numerous lacerations. An intercranial hemmorage caused pressure. They did a craniotomy. You just now fought your way out of a three day coma."

She closed her eyes trying to process the information, "Three days? Where's Rachel?" She needed to know that her daughter was ok. The last thing she remembered was leaving the hospital to go look at houses so she was almost positive that she was ok.

"Rachel is fine. She is worried about you, but she is fine."

"I want to see her." She insisted.

Wilson nodded, "I will call Katherine to bring her, but while I do that I am getting the neurologist to come in and do your neurological checks." He walked out not leaving room for debate. They needed to know how if there was any damage.

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><p>Cuddy passed her checks as well as could be expected. All her movements seemed forced and delayed, but that was fairly common when coming out of a coma.<p>

Katherine barged into the ICU ignoring the nurses that told her children shouldn't be in there. This was the Dean's daughter so as far as she was concerned they could suck it. She had warned Rachel that mommy was in a lot of pain and wouldn't look good, but not to worry. Mommy was going to be ok, and this time it was not a lie.

Rachel immediately reached out from her place on Katherine's hip to try and get to Lisa, "Mommy!" She didn't care if her mom looked beat up. She was awake and looking at her. She wanted a hug. She wanted to be with her mommy.

Lisa smiled gently, "Oh baby girl." She whispered. She looked at Wilson, "Just put her on this side?" She indicated the side without the broke leg or ribs.

Wilson rubbed the back of his neck, "Lisa she might hurt you..."

Lisa fixed him with a glare, "Give me my daughter, James." She left no room for debate.

Wilson and Katherine carefully arranged Rachel to lay on her mother's side. She settled herself against Lisa resting her head up on her chest and laying her arm lightly over her middle (an act that caused Wilson to wince in anticipation should she put too much pressure on Cuddy's ribs).

Lisa looked up at Katherine and Wilson, "Can we be alone for a bit?"

Wilson looked like he was about to protest, but Katherine took hold of his arm, "Sure. I am glad you are feelin better, Lisa. We will be back soon." She pretty much dragged Wilson out of the room to give the tiny family their privacy.

Lisa put her arm around her and slowly drew her fingers through her hair, "I missed you, Rachel."

Rachel began to sob uncontrollably, "I missed you more! They wouldn't let me see you. I thought you were gone."

Lisa closed her eyes and made herself tighten her hold on the girl, "I'm here, baby girl. They just wanted mommy to rest so that she could hold you like she is now. I was very hurt. I still am, but look I can hold you now. I'm not gone. I will always be here for you."

Rachel calmed herself and nodded a little, "Ok." When she had her tears under control she finally asked, "What's wrong with your voice?"

Lisa grinned happy that she wasn't crying anymore, "My throat is just sore. It will go away."

"Ok." Rachel yawned a little and cuddled closer to Lisa.

She smiled, "Tired, baby girl?"

"I didn't sleep well with you gone."

Lisa nodded, "I am tired too. Why don't we take a nap?"

"Ok, momma." She closed her eyes and let her body relax.

Lisa did the same worn out from just her few hours of being awake.

Together they rested peacefully content to merely be together.


	20. I'm No Good For You

**A.N.: I special thanks to Temo for boosting my reviews xD**

**This is a good bit shorter than I am used to, but I don't want to smush too much into it.  
><strong>

**And if by the end of this you wonder when Cuddy and Wilson will finally have a real discussion about the accident, fear not. It is coming.  
><strong>

**Just sitting here borrowing characters from others.**

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><p>Katherine had scooped up Rachel and taken her home hours ago. Lisa knew that she couldn't stay, but she still wished that she could have. Rachel had been so upset. It was supposed to be her job to take care of Rachel. To comfort her. At this point it was an effort just to make herself raise her hand up and run her hand through her daughter's hair. She knew she wasn't in any place to be caring for Rachel or even for herself. It was frustrating. She inwardly berated herself for not paying more attention. If she had maybe she could have swerved. This might have all been avoided. It had become a habit of hers to blame herself for pretty much everything, so it was not a far stretch to place the blame for this on herself instead of on the idiot who had rammed into her.<p>

Wilson for his part had been at her side constantly after coming back from giving her her space with Rachel. He kept the conversation light, but she knew that there was a lot on his mind. He was attentive and sweet, but really she knew it was part of his actual character. The man would never be anything except supportive in every way possible. She wished he would just talk. Let out his feelings, but she was pretty sure he wasn't ready. He would break down in time, and then hopefully she could be there for him. The entire time he sat with her he kept at least his fingertips touching her. It felt as if he was worried she might slip away. It was such a striking contrast from how House was when she had been in the hospital. She had thought bitterly for a moment that it must have been because Wilson was sober, but she pushed that quickly out of her mind. It was not fair. It was hard not to compare House to Wilson, but she knew she needed to try to stop. For the most part Wilson almost always came out the other side looking better, but it still wasn't right. If she was to move forward she needed to focus strictly on Wilson. It was hard, but she would try.

The door to the ICU opened and House entered nodding to both of them, "I heard you came back from la la land. Feeling any better?"

Lisa smiled a little, "Well, I feel like I got hit by a car."

"So in other words it could be worse?" He prompted with a smirk.

She nodded, "Yeah I guess it could be worse. How did you know I was in here?"

He shrugged, "I came by to talk to you about taking Rachel out. Your assistant told me."

"And she told you about her condition?" Wilson asked curiously.

Lisa glared, "That is a breech of confidentiality!"

House rolled his eyes, "Calm down. I found out your condition by other means."

"Illegally I assume." Lisa had to smile though. Of course House would sneak around and find some way to find ou about her condition without actually checking up on her.

"Nothing that I would admit to."

They stayed silent for a few minutes before House cleared his throat, "Wilson, could we have a minute?"

The hold Wilson had on Cuddy's hand tightened, "House I don't..." He looked at Cuddy waiting for her to say something.

She shook her head, "It's fine. He has something to say. It's not like he would hurt me."

House scoffed, "Of course I wouldn't!"

Wilson let go of her hand and stood up, "I was more worried about you upsetting her." He walked towards House, "Don't be stupid." He told him before walking out.

House rolled his eyes and moved to sit in the chair that Wilson had previously occupied, "He always gets so protective when one of his people gets hurt."

Lisa turned her head a little to be able to fully look at him, "Well you have given him lots of practice." She adjusted herself in the bed a little then asked, "What's going on House?"

House bounced his cane on the floor and kept his eyes on the floor, "I'm glad you are ok." He paused before continuing, "And I am ok with being your friend. I can do that now."

Lisa quirked an eyebrow, "What changed?"

"I realized that I was right in the beginning. What I had to give you wasn't enough. We tried. I was good while we had it, but you deserve more. He can make you happy. You can make him happy. Its... Good." It was taking everything in him to admit this, but after everything he had put Cuddy through he was pretty sure he owed it to her.

Tears gathered in her eyes and she bit down on her lip, "I'm sorry it couldn't work, but thank you for saying that, House. It means a lot." She let a few of the tears fall and made herself reach out to him.

He took her hand and nodded, "Yeah.. I know."

They stayed like this for a while. Him staring at the floor. Her holding his hand and silently shedding tears for the relationship that they were both finally letting go of.

Wilson gave them fifteen minutes before walking back in. His main focus was Cuddy's tear stained face, "HOUSE! What did I tell you?" He crossed his arms over his chest demanding an answer.

House rolled his eyes, "I love how a few tears are what you notice, not the fact that I am holding your girlfriend's hand."

Lisa chuckled a little, "It's ok Wilson. This was a good thing. These tears ok. Don't be mad at him."

Wilson narrowed his eyes, "Are you sure?"

She nodded and let go of House's hand so that she could wipe away her tears with both of her hands, "Yeah. I am sure."

House stood up and walked past Wilson, "So quick to jump to conclusions. It is a real shame." He told him as he made his way out of the room.

Wilson took his place back up at her side, "Are you positive everything is ok?"

She laughed and closed her eyes, "Yes Wilson!" She insisted, "I think everything is finally starting to be ok."


	21. This is My Confession

**A.N.: I do not own.**

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><p>Wilson felt like he was waiting for the other shoe to drop. All of Cuddy's test had been coming back just fine. She was still in a lot of the pain from her injuries, but other than slow reactions and slightly forced movement she was doing amazingly well. After the hell of waiting for her to come out of the coma good news just felt too good to be true. On top of that she had told him what House said after he left. They basically had his blessing? It was all too much. He wasn't usually a pessimist, but it was much easier to protect yourself against pain in these situations if you were prepared for the worst. He was still in protective mode of both himself and her. He was limiting the amount of time her visitors could stay. He hoped he was doing it subtly. She hadn't complained yet. The only one he hadn't done it to was Rachel, but that was only because she would have flipped out on him if he had tried and he knew it. She had obviously needed that time with Rachel. He wished she was spending more time resting. It was only her second day out of the coma, and she stayed relatively alert most of the time. Part of him worried if she was afraid to spend too much time sleeping that she might slip back into the coma. Logically she would know herself to be wrong, but it was normal to be a little paranoid after a traumatic experience.<p>

After running out a nurse from the clinic who had come to check on her, Lisa had had about enough. She had been trying to give him time before forcing him to talk, but she couldn't wait anymore.

She pulled herself into a slightly better position to sit up, "Wilson. What is your problem? She just wanted to talk."

Wilson looked at her with a 'busted' face. He stuffed his hands in his pockets, "You should be resting not having these people running out of here. This is the ICU. There isn't even supposed to be visitors allowed to come in and out like that."

She smiled a little, "Well they probably figure that they should allow the Dean of Medicine to see whoever she damn well pleases." She loved the extra little something that her job got her without her having to ask. She didn't usually exploit it, but it was still always there, "But that isn't the full story. There is something going on with you. Talk to me."

Wilson shook his head, "I have no idea what you are talking about."

She gave him a look to let him know she didn't believe him for a minute, "Yes you do." She pressed.

"You are the one not resting." He deflected, "You fight sleep. Why?"

"I fight sleep because I would rather be awake and talking. I want to make sure I can in fact stay awake. I want to be awake in case Rachel comes back because God knows you won't wake me up if she comes, but you are just deflecting." She smiled at him, "Has House rubbed off on you too much?"

"There is nothing to deflect. I have nothing to say."

She held out her hand to him wanting him to come closer, "Why can't you just admit that you are scared. I am. I could have died. I could have left my daughter. I could have left you, my friends, this hospital. I don't like that feeling. It has been the second time in under a year I have felt it. That's a lot of death scare for one year."

Wilson slowly moved over and took her hand, "You could have died..." He said quietly.

She nodded and squeezed his hand, "I know."

Tears gathered in his eyes, "While I waited for you to come out of the coma I kept thinking of Amber." He admitted in a strained voice, "I found myself preparing for never having you come out of it. I would remind myself of all the bad things that could happen even if you did." Tears began to spill down his cheeks but he continued, "I didn't want to lose you, but I didn't want to be blindsided by the loss if I did. Now I just feel like everything is going so well that I am just waiting for something to go wrong. I feel set up to lose you. To lose any woman I care about." He was sobbing openly now. Every feeling that had passed through him in the past few days was flooding through him and he couldn't hold back anymore.

Lisa stared up into the eyes of the man who really and truly cared for her and let himself feel it completely. Her heart swelled with complete and absolute love for him. She knew it now. She wanted to comfort him. She wanted him at her side. This was the dependable, loving man that she needed. She didn't doubt it anymore. She wasn't scared of it anymore. This was real and she deserved it. So did he.

She scooted over as best she could and tugged on his arm for him to come onto the bed. He shook his head, "I might hurt you." He got out through his tears.

She shook her head, "We will be careful. Sit with me James." She insisted.

He sat carefully on the edge of the bed and she pulled him down to be leaning on her shoulder with his head at the crook of her neck much like Rachel had. She stroked his hair and turn her head to kiss his forehead, "I'm not going anywhere. Stop waiting for the bad part. I have a lot of recovery to do. That is bad enough. I didn't die. I am here with you where I belong." She brought her other hand over to wipe away a few of his tears, "I love you. Please don't worry about losing me."

His eyes searched hers when she made her final statement. He was looking for pity, but all he found was love. She meant it. She wasn't appeasing him. He had been holding back so much. He didn't want to rush her. After all they had only technically been together for a short time, but the build up had been over the span of months. He raised his hand to her cheek and stroked it lightly, "I love you too, Lisa." He leaned in and began to kiss her ever so gently. She returned it in kind. Both of them knowing that this couldn't go very far at all, but both needing that contact after the tough confessions they had finally allowed themselves to make.

"Well isn't this charming." The couple broke away from each other hearing the voice coming from the foot of her bed, "Who here is going to explain to me why I just now found out that my daughter was in a near death accident." Arlene Cuddy was staring harshly at the couple, and she would not be leaving until she had an answer.


	22. Momma Knows Best

**A.N.: Can I just tell you all for a moment how much I love Candice Bergen? Now that I have gotten that out there I can move on xD**

**I do not own.**

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><p>Arlene Cuddy was not amused. She was not sure who had decided to keep the knowledge of her daughter's car crash a secret from her, but she was determined to find out. There was no reason that she should have found out by calling her daughter's secretary in an attempt to get a hold to the ever busy Dean of Medicine. At first the girl had only told her that Lisa couldn't be reached at the moment, but after five minutes of Arlene's ranting about the rights of a mother to be allowed to speak to her daughter the moron had broken down and told her that Lisa was currently in ICU due to a car crash, but that she could not disclose anymore. She didn't bother thanking her. Arlene simply hung up the phone and rushed out of her house to make the drive to PPTH.<p>

Now here she was standing in front of the bed where her daughter had been exchanging saliva with the man who had been introduced to her as James Wilson at Lisa's birthday dinner. This was a surprise to Arlene seeing as she was not aware her daughter had been seeing anyone since House. Speaking of House, she made a mental note to make him fear for his very life should she happen to see him. She had wanted him with her daughter, but driving a car into her home? That was unacceptable. She had promised to kill him should he hurt Lisa, and this definitely fell under the hurting her category.

She kept her arms crossed over her chest and watched as James evacuated the bed, "Well are you both going to just stare at me, or is someone going to answer my question?"

Wilson cleared his throat and stepped forward, "We just didn't want to worry you until we knew solid facts. She just came out of her coma yesterday."

"A coma? How long ago was this accident? Is she alright? And don't you give me any of that, you putz. You act like it is some big schlep for a mother to come down and check on her daughter! I am more worried now that I find out how much was kept from me. Tell me, would you have informed me before or after the funeral had she died?" She was obviously very put out and it was starting to make Wilson nervous.

Lisa sighed, "Mom calm down. They had a lot going on. The accident was.. five days ago?" She looked to Wilson for confirmation. He nodded.

Arlene shook her head, "What are you even doing with this schmuck, Lisa? Last I remember he was going on and on about some shiksa that I couldn't give two figs about. He almost cried, for goodness sake!"

Wilson blushed a little, "It had only been a few weeks since Sam left me." It was a lame defense, but he didn't like remembering how he was after she left.

"That's all well and good dear, but now here you are making decisions to keep information from me about my daughter and trying to swallow her tongue in her hospital bed. She should be resting not shtupping."

"Mother!" Lisa exclaimed, "We were doing nothing of the kind. Cut it out." She could feel her blood pressure rising and closed her eyes.

Arlene was about to go on, but Wilson stopped her, "Mrs. Cuddy, she is getting upset." He pointed to Cuddy's vitals, "Her pulse is up, and I would bet her blood pressure is too. This isn't good for her."

Alrene huffed, "Fine, I will stop, but I am not happy. Are you going to offer me a seat or am I going to have to stand up the whole time?"

Wilson immediately moved out of the way and gestured for her to please take a seat.

They chatted for a bit, though there was obvious tension between the group, until Katherine came in with Rachel.

Rachel was instantly put back in the same place she was yesterday. She waved to her grandma, "You came to see my mommy, grandma?"

Arlene nodded, "Yes, child. Now that I finally know." She shot Katherine a glare, "Don't think I am letting you off the hook either."

Katherine gave her her best innocent smile, "It was all with the best of intentions."

Arlene scoffed and leaned back in her chair crossing her legs carefully, "Spare me the shpiel. I've heard it all."

Lisa rolled her eyes as she ran her fingers through Rachel's hair, "Stop being such a yenta, mom. You don't need to prove that you are super Jew here."

"I am going to let that comment slide since you are in pain, dear. Speaking of that, are you going to be alright?"

Lisa chuckled, "Finally stopped fussing long enough to think to ask how I am? Yes I will be fine. The broken bones will take time to heal, but I will be alright."

Arlene was satisfied with that answer, "Good. We can move you in with me once they release you."

Lisa's eyes grew wide and she shook her head, "No. Not a chance. I am staying with James."

"Didn't I already tell you that you should be resting, not shtupping?" Arlene met her daughter's eyes with a disapproving gaze, "I didn't even know you two were together!"

Wilson finally found his voice, "I will be taking care of her Mrs. Cuddy, please believe that. We have not been together terribly long, but she is one of my oldest friends. I wouldn't let anything hurt her."

"Something already did hurt her." She said it as if he was a fool for even speaking the words.

Katherine moved over to Arlene, "Come on, Arlene. He is a good man. He will take care of your little girl."

"I am hardly a child! Stop talking like I am!" Lisa protested, her vitals shooting up again.

A nurse came in to check on her having been alerted of the changes in her vitals from the station, "Ok, there are too many people here. I am going to ask some of you to leave."

Katherine moved to take Rachel but the child clung to her. Katherine rolled her eyes, "Why don't we leave the two of them for a while again. I think that would calm her down."

"She might hurt her." Arlene protested.

"I will not! I promise!" Rachel insisted.

Lisa kissed the top of Rachel's head, "She is fine mom. Why don't you call later and you can check up?" She knew she wasn't subtle about not wanting to have her mother come back, but she didn't care. She need the woman gone.

"Well I take that as I wore out my welcome." She leaned over and placed a perfunctory kiss on her daughter's cheek, "I will be calling."

Wilson gave Cuddy a brief smile before taking his leave with the other two.

Lisa had just settled down when Rachel spoke up, "Mommy what's schtupping?" Lisa groaned. This had been such a long day.


	23. Need a Little Help

**A.N.: I AM BACK! Have I ever told you guys that I despise my job?**

**I do not own.**

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><p>After two weeks, one more week than Lisa was comfortable with and one less week than Wilson was comfortable with, Lisa Cuddy was officially discharged. She was sent home in the care of James Wilson who was more than ready to be her caretaker. Lisa, however, was not ready to be taken care of. She had hated having to have help with everything from nurses at the hospital, but she was not sure how she was going to handle letting Wilson do everything for her. It was a scary prospect at least for her.<p>

Three days of being at home with Wilson, and she now knew why she had been so scared. She was a terrible patient. With every helping hand and every moment that he was doing things for her daughter that she could not, it ate her up inside. Logically she knew that she needed his help, and that she should be grateful that she had this amazing man that was willing to be there for her when others might not, but she despised feeling like an invalid. He was there every time she moved. Even when she just wanted to get up off the couch and hobble on her crutches to go pee, he would pop up out of no where to help her get up and fuss that she had not called for him. He even tried to convince her to let Rachel stay in the room with him so that they would not chance her accidentally hurting her in her sleep. She had to start actually yelling at him to get him to understand that she wanted her daughter with her. If there was one thing she could do without any effort it was sleep. If Rachel somehow accidentally hit her in the middle of the night then so be it. It was too much, and it was driving her insane. She was positive that she loved him, but she was also positive that if he didn't give her some space she would cut him.

She had been laid out across the couch for the past hour watching re-runs of Happy Days. It had always been a guilty pleasure of hers, and she could remember a time when she used to think that the Fonz was hot stuff. Now she wondered what she saw. Maybe it was his magical ability to turn on the jukebox by just hitting it with his fist. Maybe she had just always had something for the slightly bad boys in leather jackets. That certainly would have explained her attraction to House. Bad boy on the outside. Kind soul on the inside. Those guys were always the ones she would be attracted to at first. It was never what she needed. What she needed was the man in he kitchen currently burning their dinner. She could hear him muttering under his breath about the steaks not cooking evenly. It was moments like this that she could forget about his hovering. Moments when she was left alone with her thoughts able to laugh at his failed attempt at culinary perfection. She was fairly sure that it wouldn't be nearly as bad as he was making it sound. Wilson was a great cook, but he was also a perfectionist as well. There was a difference between a little black and charred. She was pretty sure their food would not be charred.

Rachel had been playing with her dolls in the guest bedroom. Lisa had been listening to her giggle, but she hadn't heard her for about five minutes. This got her worried. She slowly sat up, mindful of her ribs, then grabbed her crutches getting ready to hoist herself up off the couch.

Wilson, however, had developed special sense when it came to her movements and was in front of her before she could even try to get up, "Do you need the bathroom again? Let me help you."

Lisa glared up at him and refused to budge, "No, I am fine. Go back to cooking." She was tired of this bullshit. Couldn't she even go check on her daughter by herself?

Wilson ignored the glare. He was used to much less cooperation when helping House, "Come on, Lisa. I can help you do whatever you need to do."

"I don't need your help!" She snapped irritably, "I am not incapable of getting up off a couch on my own."

"I know, sweetie, but it is better if I help you."

Wilson had made a big mistake. He had known it from the time the words left his mouth. He was patronizing her, and he could see the anger flashing in her eyes because of it. She was about to let him have it. He braced himself.

"Look here, Sweetie." She spat the word at him as if it had disgusted her to let it roll off her tongue, "I do not need your help to get up. I know how to handle it, and I am sick and tired of your over protective hovering. I am fine so back off!" She hoped that she had gotten her point across well enough, but she was willing to repeat it if need be.

Wilson stared at her for a minute. She was obviously pissed, but not just about the condescending pet name. She was pissed about his help in general. She hated to look weak. Fuck she was so much like House sometimes. He decided that if she was going to act like House he would have to treat her as such.

He put his hands on her hips and looked down on her, "You are a doctor, Lisa. You know that the less pressure you put on your ribs and your leg the better they will heal. I am not trying to make you feel weak or useless. I am a man who loves you who is trying to help you. If you can't handle that, then I don't know what we are doing here. I care about you. I am not going to be taking care of you forever, so either get over this warped sense of pride you have or cause more damage to your broken bones and need them to be reset. Your call." His voice was firm letting her know he was serious.

She took a deep breath letting that all sink in. Logically she knew he was right, but her 'warped sense of pride' was a big part of who she was. He needed to know that, "Look, I know I need help with some things, but I can't let you do everything for more. It is driving me insane. Do you know how annoying it is that I have to let you help me get dressed? We haven't even slept together yet and you have seen me naked. I hate this. I need to do SOMETHING."

He nodded a little letting her know he understood, "Ok. Ok I get that. Just... Let me stand here while you get up so I can be here to support you if you need it. Ok?" His eyes pleaded with her to agree. He didn't like the idea of chancing her falling.

She gave him a small smile and returned the nod, "See? Compromise." She carefully got up and secured the crutches under her arms with Wilson's hands out stretched and ready to catch her if need be. When she was sure she was steady she signaled for Wilson to lean in to her. When he did she kissed him gently, "I love you too, by the way."

Wilson smirked and stepped away so that she could hobble on her crutches to check on weren't perfect, but at least they were looking up again.


	24. Worth the Wait

**A.N: HOPEFULLY THIS WON'T SUCK**

**I do not own.**

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><p>Lisa Cuddy had never been more excited about a doctor's appointment in her entire life. Today she was going to see her Orthopedic doctor to check on her ribs and remove the cast off of her leg. Today she would finally get to bend her leg again. She would shave again. Walk without any sort of help again. She would still need to be careful because it would probably be weak from lack of use, but she didn't care. She wanted to wear her heels again and feel like her own woman again. She loved Wilson dearly, but she never wanted him to give her assistance with moving around ever again. Should she ever loop her arm through his it would be because she was compelled to not because he offered it. She was stubborn that way and would probably be acting like that for a while. She knew that he would understand. Wilson always understood. It was part of who he was.<p>

When she was preparing to leave for the hospital she packed herself a bag filled with her razor, raspberry scented shaving cream, and a pair of black stilettos to match her loose black skirt and red shirt with the black belt wrapped around her middle. She stared at them in awe before putting them in her bag. It was completely stupid how much she had missed her high heels, but it was just another part of who she was. She liked feeling sexy and strong. Her shoes helped give her that little boost of confidence.

She was so lost in her thoughts that she had never heard Wilson enter. In fact she didn't notice his presence till he was digging her black heels out of the bag and replacing them with a pair of black ballet flats, "Wilson!" She was outraged. She wanted her shoes back, "Give those back! I get my cast off! I can wear my heels again."

Wilson shook his head, "No you can't. You know it is better to wait at least a week so that your leg is stronger from use. You don't want to chance falling and breaking it again. This is just common sense."

"Are you suggesting I am stupid?" She snapped. Logically she knew that he was right, and she had no reason to be angry. The problem was that logic had no place in her life when he was taking away her shoes.

Wilson gave her his patented 'I am hurt that you even suggested that' look, "I am just worried about you."

"Worry less." She said with a glare.

"I can't." He went to the closet and put her shoes away, "You are going to thank me for this later. Come on. We need to get moving."

She pushed past him with a huff vowing not to talk to him for the rest of the day. And she didn't. At least not until she came home later that night.

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><p>She spent her day after getting her cast removed and shaving her atrociously hairy leg flitting around the hospital mostly because she could. She got many smiles from her employees and congratulations for her newly found mobility. It felt good to be able to move unimpeded. It was because of this that she began to forget Wilson's treachery. When she got home she was able to fully forget it. The moment she opened the door her sense of smell was immediately assaulted. He was cooking. Garlic hung thick in the air as well as other things. He was making pasta for her. When she made her way fully inside she saw the table made up with a white table cloth and candles. He had put out a vase of fresh salmon colored roses. He did all of this for her. How on earth was she supposed to stay mad at him over shoes when the man loved her enough to make her a celebratory dinner that any woman in her right mind would absolutely swoon over? All of the weeks of annoyance with him and her mobility issues were automatically forgotten. Instead she was left thinking of how lucky she was. How in love she was. Wilson was a good man. The best. He was the man she deserved, and she promised herself that she would make herself act like the woman she deserved even if she didn't feel like she was after all the trouble she had been giving him.<p>

Wilson had been standing at the island in the kitchen watching her stare at his set up. He was thoroughly pleased with her reaction. Stunned was good. After many moments of thought filled silence he spoke up, "Are you talking to me now?" He was teasing her. He expected her to roll her eyes and then he would serve her the dinner he had slaved over. They would laugh over how stressed they had both been lately. They would talk about how Rachel would be starting kindergarten in a few weeks. They would be able to feel at peace with each other again. He had it all thought out, but not a single one of these things happened.

The moment the words left his mouth Lisa turned on him. She moved swiftly to him and assaulted his lips with her own. She was trying to convey how much she appreciated, loved, and adored him all into a kiss. Her arms snaked around his neck and his hands found a home on her waist. She knew she had surprised him, but he was responding just fine.

She broke the kiss to trail tiny kisses up his jawline before nibbling on his ear so she could whisper to him, "Thank you, James. For everything." She was overwhelmed by his gesture. It was so obvious what he had done for her. She didn't have to try and figure it out. He was not House. She had been so used to having to accept small tokens of affection or big convoluted displays that she had to find the meaning behind that it absolutely took her breath away to have a man simply do something nice to show his love for her. It was finally uncomplicated. It was easy and right. After all, it really shouldn't be so hard.

Wilson had closed his eyes and let her do whatever she wished with that amazing mouth of hers. He felt the weight of her thanks. It encompassed so much. Not just the dinner. Not just him taking care of her. She was thanking him for being him. For being open. It was odd to realize how she just was not used to this sort of affection. He moved his arms completely around her waist pulling her closer to him, "You don't have to thank me." When the words left his mouth he felt her bite him enough to cause a little pain, but mostly excite him. He had to chuckle a little. She was letting him know that she did in fact have to thank him so he should shut up. Her bite then turned to sucking and he fought back a groan, "Should we stop?" He wasn't sure when she would be ready to be with him in the biblical sense. They had been together for a while, but they had had everything fighting against them. Tonight there was nothing to stop them. Rachel was with Katherine. Lisa no longer had a cast, but still he didn't want her to feel pushed to do anything.

She didn't feel pushed, though, and she proved that by moving out of his grip (much to his dismay) and pulling her top off (much to his delight). They were responsible adults in love. She was tired of waiting. He obviously was too because when her shirt hit the floor he scooped her up and carried her to his bed. She giggled and held on tight to him, "What no kitchen sex?" She teased.

He laughed at her, "No. Not tonight." It was odd to have such a mixture of passion and friendship. He had seen her naked already but he had been helping her bathe then. This would be different. When he layed her down on his bed he sat next to her and looked into her eyes. This was the biggest step of their relationship. This would not be like their nights of simply making out and having fun. This was true intimacy, and he was feeling the weight of it. They would officially leave the status of just friends behind. Why was this so much harder than telling her he loved her?

She could feel his hesitation. He was scared. She couldn't blame him. It was a bit awkward, but they both wanted it. She knew that. It was just such a big change. She was ready for that change. She was ready to be completely happy with the man she loved who loved her. No games. No more waiting. This would be it. His hesitation was proof enough to her that she would have to take the reins for a bit. She could do that.

She reached behind her and unclasped her bra keeping eye contact with him the entire time, "James." She spoke his name in a low seductive voice. She was going to seduce her best friend and make him her lover. She didn't regret a damn thing, "I want you." She took the bra completely off and tossed it to the side. Her shoes came next easily kicking them off the side of the bed. Never once did they break eye contact. He seemed mesmerized. Next came her skirt. She took her time making a show of it until that too was tossed to the side leaving her laying there in nothing but her thong, "I love you. I want this. I want us." She reached out and took his hand. First she brought it to her lips pressing a light kiss to it then she brought it to her chest. She layed his large hand over her bare breast and let out an appreciative moan when he instinctual squeeze the soft flesh. That moan seemed to be more than enough proof for him. In an instant he was over her, his still clothed body covering her mostly naked one.

Wilson was lost in thoughts of lust. His best friend would now be his lover. Any thought beyond that would be pointless. Only they mattered right now. His only his growing erection and the feel of his lips against her breasts were of any meaning. His hands explored her body as if he had never touched any other woman before her. They were gentle and appreciated every single curve she had, "You are so beautiful." He mumbled just before taking her nipple in his mouth for a brief suck. He had always been a breast man, and he had also always agreed with House that Cuddy's were the best. Perky and just the right size. How the hell did he get so lucky as to have this woman laying under him? Her soft moans filled up his mind as he continued to touch and explore her. His hands final destination were between her legs. He had long forgotten about the thong she had left on, so when his hand came in contact with it he immediately got rid of the offensive article of clothing. Her laugh when he did that was like a bell that woke him from a stupor. He propped himself up on his elbows to look at her properly, "What's so funny?"

Lisa smiled and reached up to start to unbutton his shirt, "You are still in everything including your shoes, and I am lying here completely naked. It was funny, and it should be fixed." She was completely comfortable. This was why lovers should be friends first. She trusted him completely. The start might be a little awkward but it was so worth it. She didn't fear judgment from him, and she knew he respected her no matter what. This was all so worth it, and she wanted it all now.

He flashed her a slightly ashamed smile and got up off the bed. His eyes stayed glued to her the way hers had to him as he got dressed. He felt a slight blush rise in his cheeks when he got down to his boxers. This was it. He had seen her naked before, but never she him. What if he wasn't enough? Was House bigger? Oh FUCK he did not need to be thinking of that now. His nerves were working on overtime. Could she see his nervousness? His awkwardness? Fuck she could. She was sitting up and crawling over to him. What on earth was she doing?

She was going to fix his nerves. She could actually see the flash of panic in his eyes. It was natural. She had been with his best friend before him. She had never seen him naked yet, but she didn't want him thinking about any of that. She wasn't going to compare him to anyone else (not on purpose anyway). She had every intention of making him feel like a real man. So when she crawled over to him she did not wait for his permission. She just reached for his boxers and tugged them down. She was positive that his bought of nerves had lessened his erection a bit, because she had felt him press up against her leg, and this was definitely not him at full mast. She would fix that. She could feel his eyes on the top of her head as she leaned in and ran her tongue up his length to the tip. His deep groan was more than enough encouragement for her. She continued to run her tongue along him until she was positive she had covered every bit, then she took him in her mouth and sucked ever so gently. Her hand moved to stroke him as she sucked until she felt his hand move into her hair, "Lisa..." Her name came out a little shaky, and she knew she needed to stop before he lost all control there. She took her mouth away only to press kisses up his chest. She smiled when he put his hands on her shoulders and pushed her back. He had most definitely found his confidence, and she let out a happy moan when his weight came down on top of her and she could feel his erection free against her leg. She was a sexual being. She liked sex. It had been months upon months since she had last had anything more than her own hand in the shower, so she felt no shame in her readiness to have him.

His hand moved up her thigh to part her lips and test her readiness. She moaned his name as his fingers brushed her clit, but his smile was for another reason, "You are so wet." The words were mumbled against the skin of her neck, but she heard them loud and clear.

She chuckled and ran a hand down his back to squeeze his ass, "I told you I wanted you. I didn't lie, so cut the commentary and do something about it."

He didn't need to be told twice. He moved into her fully and without warning. Both of them gasped at the sensation. If he was worried at all about his size before, he was not now. Having her so tight around him was enough to let him know that he was not going to fail her in the size department. He lay still waiting for her walls to adjust to him. She was the first to move her hips urging him on. He followed suit thrusting slowly and gently. She allowed it for a bit, but soon she was digging her nails into his shoulders and demanding to be fucked. He hadn't been with a woman so demanding since Amber, and he was both surprised and elated. He was used to gentle meek women. Even Sam had been that way in bed, but Lisa was none of those things, and she knew exactly what she wanted. He was all too happy to deliver. He thrusted in and out of her with a force that caused her to grab hold of the edge of the bed to keep her from moving back and hitting her head on the headboard. It wasn't long before she was half screaming half moaning his name with his own climax following shortly after.

He rolled off of her and lay at her side while they both attempted to catch their breath in complete silence sans the panting. When she finally calm against she snuggled to his side and wrapped one arm and one leg over him while he wrapped his arm over her so she could use his shoulder as a pillow, "That was..." She was trying to find the right word, but he found it first.

"Fantastic."

She smiled broadly and nodded. She kissed his chest gently, "I have every intention of getting used to this."

"Like I would let you go now." It finally all felt real. They were in a real adult relationship complete with amazing sex and loving affection. It was about damn time.


End file.
